Closure on NH48 section adds to Delhi-Ggm commute woes

GURUGRAM/NEW DELHI: Diversions and aversion measures put in place to relieve the mess around an 800-metre section of NH-48 that was shut on Tuesday only worsened the traffic situation in the area, and kept people travelling between Delhi and Gurugram stuck on the road for hours.

- Leena Dhankhar and Karn Pratap Singh

The stretch, between southwest Delhi's Rangpuri and Rajokri, has been shut by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to allow the construction of two underpasses linking NH-48 to the Dwarka Expressway and a flyover. The project is likely to take at least 90 days. In the interim, slip roads have been built along the closed section of the highway to allow vehicles to pass through.

However, the multiple diversions first for vehicles to get on to the slip roads, and then to get back on NH-48 after the shut section - created multiple choke points and led to winding traffic jams along the highway.

Travel times for commuters were also worsened by the closure of the Chirag Delhi flyover, 15km away, with people heading from parts of south and east Delhi towards Gurugram facing a harrowing situation.

The police on Tuesday initially shut only one carriageway - from Delhi to Gurugram. However, by late Tuesday evening, both carriageways of the highway were shut.

Delhi's special commissioner of police (traffic) SS Yadav, said the carriageway was initially closed as a "trial" to understand the difficulties that commuters might face. It was then decided that the stretch will be shut entirely.