The ambitious plan to decongest Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, the main link to Old Delhi Railway Station, is in a complete mess.
In the first place, this Commonwealth Games project has long missed its 2010 deadline. As for the dedicated lane for non-motorised vehicles which was created, it is ignored by cycle rickshaws and carts that prefer the main road. In has instead been taken over by hawkers and is also used for illegal parking.
Nearly Rs 20 crore was spent on construction of the 2.2-km stretch from Ring Road at the eastern end (near Hanuman temple) up to Pilli Kothi near Novelty Cinema. However, now even the pavement has been encroached here, with minibuses entering the dedicated lane at certain points. Pedestrians pay the price, as do rickshaw-pullers. One of them, Sushil Kumar Sharma, said, "Hawkers do not let us to ride in the dedicated lane despite the fact that this was created for us so fast-moving traffic is not affected on the main road. Even policemen do not take any action against them."
On the other hand, several rickshaw-pullers willfully ply on the main road. Earlier, the municipal corporation had deployed commandoes on the stretch to discipline them but even this has faded away now. "Guards who were deployed to manage the traffic in rickshaw lane are nowhere to be seen. I have not seen any one of them for more than two months" said Sanjay Garg, a shopkeeper.
As a result, the plan to decongest one of the major roads connecting east, central Delhi to northern and west has virtually flopped. The road is also important as it provides access to major markets Chandni Chowk, Khari Baoli, Naya Bazaar, Sadar Bazaar and Azad Market.
The separate lane was planned as it takes more than an hour to cross this 10-minute stretch. Several rail travellers complain of missing trains and the authorities' callous attitude is evident in their failure despite court intervention.