Expected to become operational by next month, Chirag Delhi and Greater Kailash metro stations on the 25.59km Kalkaji Mandir- Janakpuri West corridor will not only ease travel for commuters to and from South west Delhi, they will also cause a traffic nightmare outside these metro stations.
While the Chirag Delhi metro station is located at the turning of the BRT corridor, the Greater Kailash metro station is located barely 500 metres away from the Chirag Delhi station. Entrances to both are situated on these main arterial roads “This is the first time that two metro stations have been built in such close proximity,” said a Delhi Metro official.
A visit by the reporter to the Greater Kailash and Chirag Delhi metro stations last week found that the metro authorities do not seem to have factored in the chaos that vehicles slowing down and stopping at these metro stations on main roads are likely to cause. In fact, Delhi Traffic Police had submitted their assessment on the choke points likely to be caused if the metro stations were made operational, but they seem have been ignored.
locals said that once these two metro stations become operational, it will be a nightmare for them to step out. Obviously, no lessons have been learnt from the traffic chaos caused outside existing metro stations like Kailash Colony and Moolchand which result in congestion due to auto-rickshaws, cabs, private vehicles et.al. vehicles parked outside these stations and terrible traffic snarls are expected at the upcoming Chirag Delhi and Greater Kailash metro stations.
Chetan Sharma, Secretary General of an umbrella of Resident Welfare Associations told The Pioneer, “The Greater Kailash metro station will open right at the turning point of Greater Kailash 2. This will create a mess as autorickshaws, e-rickshaws will block the passage of the market area. Despite writing to the Delhi Metro for past two years, no action has been taken.” To this, the Delhi Metro spokesperson said, “Taking cognizance of the situation at other metro stations, it is the first time that in all the stations of the Magenta line we have created space for pick and drop facilities for passengers. At the Chirag Delhi metro station, we have created two new slip roads- one towards the Jahapanah forest side and the second towards the Chirag Delhi village. We have also created drop off points for auto-rickshaws at all the five gates and provision is being made for one car drop off point at one gate. We have also created two subways for the general public not heading to the metro station."
He claimed that the Chirag Delhi metro station has been classified as an “off the road” metro station. “We have acquired land from the Chirag Nursery and after construction, we have promised to give back 75 per cent of the land by making it green,” a senior DMRC spokesperson said. “We have taken the issue of traffic into consideration and created two slip roads which will act as the drop off points for auto rickshaws and other vehicles. But due to paucity of land, we did not create any parking space,” he admitted.
The Chirag Delhi metro station is located at the corners of the Masjid Moth with two turning points, one towards the BRT corridor and the second towards the Outer Ring road. 500 metres away from the Chirag Dilli metro station lies the upcoming Greater Kailash metro station. “Once the station opens up, we expect a footfall of 5000 people per hour,” added Sharma. Delhi metro expects the footfall to be 25,000 at the Chirag Delhi metro station, the footfall at the Greater Kailash metro station is expected to be 30,000 daily. As for the GK metro station, the traffic woes will be even worse as there is a single lane at the mouth of the stretch of the Savitri cinema, which will further lead to lack of parking space for last mile connectivity. Metro officials said that to address this challenge, they have not created a separate bay or drop off points at Savitri Cinema and instead have left space for the drop off points at the other side of the Outer Ring Road. A senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official said that the stations are awaiting inspection from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS).