Heavy traffic congestion, turns peak hours into a nightmare

The bustling areas around Chirag Delhi and Mehrauli-Badarpur (MB) road in south Delhi are notorious for perennial heavy traffic congestion, often turning peak hours into a nightmare for commuters. In response to these ongoing challenges, the Delhi Traffic Police has revealed that both immediate and long-term solutions are in the works to alleviate the situation at these key traffic junctions.

At Chirag Delhi intersection, two major carriageways including J B Tito Marg and Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg merge. This road starts from Moolchand flyover and ends under Chirag Delhi while Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg starts from Khanpur T  Point and ends under Chirag Delhi flyover.

To provide relief to the commuters, the traffic department has written a letter to Public Works Department (PWD) for widening the JB Tito Marg near Chirag Delhi flyover to get more space for traffic intending to turn on Outer Ring road towards Nehru Place side. “It will help to decongest the traffic. PWD staff has done ground inspection and they will do this work soon,” Gupta stated.

For a more permanent solution, the construction of an underpass beneath the Chirag Delhi flyover is under consideration, with the project currently pending approval by the PWD.

Another pain point in the city remains Mehrauli Badarpur road, which is 3.5 KM stretch from Karni Singh Shooting range T point up to Khanpur T point and falls under the jurisdiction of Sangam Vihar circle, which witnesses frequent traffic congestion.

Additional Commissioner of Police of Traffic Zone 2 Dinesh Gupta told The Pioneer that during peak hours, manual regulation of signals is carried out to manage the traffic flow as efficiently as possible. However, this intervention often falls short of providing lasting relief to commuters. “During peak hours staff regulate traffic by operating signals manually and clear the traffic as per available space ahead,” he said.

Presence of heavy vehicles also makes the situation worse. “The frequency of DTC buses is very high since the Ambedkar Nagar bus terminal is also situated at MB Road near Khanpur and the entry and exit of buses also creates congestion on this road,” Gupta said, elaborating on the reasons behind the traffic.

An office-goer, who frequently faces jams while going to work, urged the traffic department to solve the issue and said, “Please address the heavy morning traffic jams from Moolchand towards Chirag Delhi and Pushpa Bhawan. It’s causing significant delays for employees heading to work. I get late for work even though I leave on time from my home. Immediate action on traffic management would be highly appreciated!”

Although the stretch between ‘W’ Point and Chirag Delhi is signal-free, there’s only a single pedestrian signal at the Sadiq Nagar cut, which does little to manage the heavy flow of vehicles. The traffic coming from the W Point side accumulates at Chirag Delhi intersection during evening peak hours and creates congestion. The situation will likely be the same since the expected time of completion of this metro work is December 2026.

“Ever since the construction of the metro began, the area has become chaotic. Moreover, you will also see people living on the side of the streets making the situation worse. For a local living near the area, the situation is unimaginable,” a resident of Sainik Farms said.

Traffic bottlenecks are further compounded by the bus stand on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, where the narrower road width than JB Tito Marg causes significant slowdowns when buses stop, creating a ripple effect of congestion.

Busses, pedestrians, cars all jostle to get into a narrow road resulting in crawling of traffic and bumper-to-bumper jams on the roads, as the construction work of Delhi Metro has left only one lane available at some stretches for the movement of traffic, causing major inconvenience to the public. This road is also surrounded by densely populated localities including Sangam vihar, Tigri, Devali, Khanpur, Dakshin puri, Ambedkar Nagar and Madangir.