Even weeks after the deadline, only half the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) stretch is scrapped and the other half nowhere near completion. While BRT structures still remain intact between Chirag Dilli and Moolchand, even in the half (Ambedkar Nagar to Chirag Delhi) where dismantling work is done, it is not complete as traffic signal poles spring up in the middle of the road, bus shelters missing and pedestrians fighting for their lives to cross the “widened” road with no zebra crossings in place.
When reached for comment, the PWD Minister’s office directed this reporter to contact Nagendar Sharma, media advisor to the AAP Government. Sharma, however, said the Government will not entertain any queries from The Pioneer. Meanwhile, a senior traffic police official admitted that currently, there is “utter chaos” at the part of the BRT where dismantling work has been conducted.
In the section from Ambedkar Nagar to Chirag Delhi, the kerb stones have been removed providing a wide carriageway for the vehicles. While the bus shelters have also been removed from the middle of the carriageways after dismantling of the bus lanes, they are yet to be placed on the sides of the road. In the absence of these bus shelters, commuters are clueless about where the buses would stop. To add to the confusion, buses often stop at different spots on the stretch, often more than half a kilometer apart.
Apart from that, the traffic signal poles, which were earlier in place for the bus lanes, now spring up in the middle of the carriageway with bus lanes gone, and the carriageway thereby widened. There have even been cases of vehicles hitting some of these poles with drivers surprised by the sudden obstacle in an otherwise clear carriageway.
However, the worst of the problems are in store for the pedestrians as there are no zebra crossings marked on the whole dismantled stretch. While earlier, there were bus shelters and other elements dividing the road into narrow sections. Now there are two wide carriageways with nothing in between for pedestrians to take shelter or catch their breath while crossing the road, making them prone to accidents.
“To be very honest, it doesn’t look like a Delhi road at present. They have just removed the kerb stones in the name of dismantling the BRT. As long as the road is not levelled and carpeted, and jersey barriers are not placed to create the central verge, the chaos will remain. We are expecting improvement in the traffic flow and safety once the dismantling process is completed over the whole stretch of the BRT. But it will take some time,” the official said.
In the section from Moolchand to Chirag Dilli, which was to be dismantled by February 25, no significant work has been done except around a 100-metre stretch near Chirag Dilli crossing. Even in that stretch, tonnes of malba still lie on the road.
While dismantling of the 6.2 km-long corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to lajpat Nagar Metro Station was supposed to be completed by March 22, a deadline long gone, what is even more disheartening is that the individual deadlines for specific sections is overshot by more than the time span which was set aside for the work.
For example, the section from Chirag Dilli to Siri Fort was supposed to be completed in two weeks between February 11 and February 25. The work is still at a nascent stage even almost six weeks after the deadline. Similarly, the Government had set the deadline of February 10 for the stretch from Siri Fort to lajpat Nagar Metro Station. No work has been done on this stretch even almost two months after the deadline.
The Delhi Traffic Police had written to the Government last week, and also sent them further reminders to expedite the work and plug the loopholes so as to make the road safe for commuters.
“We feel that the dismantling of the BRT stretch will definitely help once it is completed. Even now the part where the BRT elements have been removed, the discharge of vehicles is much faster. We have requested the concerned agencies to expedite the process,” the official further said.