Delhi Traffic Police survey identified 62 locations that are prone to traffic congestion. These include Bhavbhuti Marg and Chelmsford Road near New Delhi railway station, in front of ISBT Kashmere Gate Ring Road, Boulevard Road, Majnu Ka Tila, Qutab Road, Baratooti Chowk, Kahjuri Chowk, Durgapuri Chowk, Libaspur underpass, Adchini village, Faiz Road, Idgah, Shadipur Chowk, and the Anand Vihar railway and bus terminal zone.
Several of these areas are near railway stations, ISBTs and metro stations and remain under consistent stress due to mixed vehicular and pedestrian load. “These areas see not just private and public vehicles but also auto-rickshaws, taxis and e-rickshaws jostling for space throughout the day,” a senior traffic officer said. The survey is part of an internal study and includes inputs from field staff and CCTV analysis.
One of the primary goals of the survey is to minimise the financial burden of maintaining unnecessary traffic signals.
Signals require regular maintenance, power supply, and operational checks, all of which contribute to the city’s expenses. By removing redundant signals, the authorities hope to reduce these costs while improving traffic management.
Currently, the traffic police is refining the list before writing to various civic and infrastructure agencies to initiate coordinated decongestion measures. Once the assessment is finalised, they may share it with agencies, such as the PWD, MCD, DDA and others, with location-specific suggestions, the officer told to media.
The identified locations have further been categorised based on the nature of traffic movement they handle, such as office-hour congestion, border bottlenecks and high-volume commercial traffic zones, a senior traffic police officer said.
Many arterial roads in central and south Delhi witness sharp surges in vehicular volume during office hours. Shadipur Chowk, Chirag Delhi, Khanpur, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg near Moolchand and Neela Gumbad are among the noted trouble spots. In east Delhi, the stretch from Nizamuddin Bridge to Sarai Kale Khan and the nearby Ring Road sections remain chronically clogged in the mornings and evenings. Heavy congestion is also seen at entry and exit points connecting Delhi to adjoining states.
These include Kalindi Kunj and DND approaches (towards Noida) and Kapashera Border (towards Gurugram).
“These border points often get choked due to a mix of long-distance goods vehicles, local traffic and inadequate road capacity or signal planning,” the official said. Markets and wholesale areas continue to be major congestion hubs, especially during business hours. Sadar Bazar, Azadpur Mandi, Karol Bagh, Gandhi Nagar market and Lajpat Nagar feature prominently in the list.
Additionally, wholesale zones in Shahdara and Mori Gate are flagged for dense traffic during offloading hours.
Key roundabouts and flyovers such as Naraina Flyover, Punjabi Bagh Club Road, Mukarba Chowk and Apsara Border also figure in the list, as do long stretches like Burari 100-feet road, the Dwarka-Palam corridor, and the Noida Link Road near Mayur Vihar Phase I.
Officials said that while traffic personnel are already deployed at several of these locations, sustained improvement will require road redesign, removal of encroachments, signal synchronisation and better last-mile public transport planning, actions that fall within the purview of multiple agencies. The traffic police is expected to review past studies and recommend practical solutions when it reaches out to other departments in the coming weeks. The police also emphasised that removing redundant signals would allow for smoother traffic flow. For example, if there is a traffic signal located between two flyovers with a distance of only 100 to 200 metres, it could be removed to avoid hindering traffic movement. This would enable vehicles to make U-turns under the flyovers without interruption.
A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report highlighted that 40 per cent of these countdown timers were not functioning properly, with many traffic signals showing malfunctions and a lack of advisory messages.
According to Delhi government, 233 traffic congestion points have been identified and departments concerned have been directed to take swift action. Of these, 123 fall under the PWD.
So far, 41 points have been cleared, with the CM setting a deadline to resolve all the remaining congestion issues by June, the statement said.
