Delhi commuters were subjected to excruciating traffic jams due to the closure of the Nehru Place-IIT carriageway on the Chirag Delhi flyover for 50 days, while a large stretch of the NH 48 (Delhi-Jaipur Highway) between Rangpuri and Rajokari has been closed for 90 days due to the construction of the Dwarka Expressway leaving vehicles stuck on the road for hours.
Keshav Kumar, a trader, said, "The situation in the south and southeast Delhi area is the same. I came from Noida and thought that the Ashram flyover will give relief, but had no idea about the bumper-to-bumper traffic in Chirag Delhi. Now, I have to go to Gurugram and I am planning to take the metro due to the traffic situation."
Vrinda Bhatia, who works in central Delhi, said she reached home on Tuesday after spending two hours on blocked roads. "I work in central Delhi and live in Gurugram. On Tuesday, the traffic situation was smooth in the morning when I was going to work.
"However, when I was returning home, it seemed like the whole of Delhi had choked. It took me two-and-half-hours to reach Gurugram. Today, I took a metro to office and am thinking of continuing this till the stretch reopens," Bhatia said. Several other commuters also shared updates of the traffic situation on Twitter. One of them said he had been stuck for 35 minutes and moved only 150 metres at Chirag Delhi.
Others said there were massive traffic jams at Ashram and also heavy traffic between Kapashera to Rajokari. The commuters also took alternate routes to reach their destinations.
"We were getting regular updates about the closure of Chirag Delhi flyover and the portion on NH-18 through news and social media.
"Since Monday, I have been taking the Bijwasan route to go to Gurugram. Though there is more traffic than usual, the stretch is more convenient than the main NH-48," Ankit Upadhyaya, an MNC employee, stated.
The traffic was also affected in west Delhi due to construction work, with traffic police asking people to avoid the stretch.
"Movement of traffic is slow from Raja Garden towards Britannia Chowk due to construction work of Punjabi Bagh flyover. There is a delay of 10-15 min to commute this stretch. Kindly avoid the stretch,", Delhi Traffic Police tweeted. On Tuesday, PWD Minister Atishi directed officials to complete the maintenance work of the Chirag Delhi flyover within a month as against 50 days.
The Minister held a meeting with senior officials of the public works department (PWD) to resolve the issue on a priority basis.
The Delhi Traffic Police have suggested alternative routes for the commuters of Chirag Delhi flyover and Delhi-Gurugram to avoid the inconvenience:
The commuters heading towards Dhaula Kuan, AIIMS, Defence Colony are advised to take a right from under the Nehru Place flyover and head towards Lala Lajpat Rai Marg following Moolchand Hospital flyover for their destination.