NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Barapullah-III corridor, expected to cut travel time between Mayur Vihar Phase-I and AIIMS from around 45 minutes to 15 minutes, opened to a massive traffic snarl on its first day, with commuters reporting journeys of up to two hours.The elevated corridor, inaugurated on Wednesday, was touted as a major relief route for east Delhi commuters. But on Thursday morning, hundreds of motorists heading towards the new stretch found its Mayur Vihar Phase-I entry barricaded.Many commuters had checked Google Maps before starting their journeys and found the new corridor marked as open. But when they reached Mayur Vihar Phase-I, they discovered that the entry was still closed.“Barricades were placed at the entry, so I took the conventional route. I did see people coming in from the Noida Link Road side, though,” said Sanjay Bhargava, a Mayur Vihar resident.The confusion soon spilled onto social media. One commuter posted, “After 12 years, not even 12 hours and it’s closed.” Another claimed Google Maps was showing the corridor as open even as 700-800 vehicles were stuck near its Mayur Vihar entry.Tagging the PWD minister and chief minister, a commuter wrote, “What jokes are you playing with the citizens of Delhi? The Barapullah bridge inaugurated by the home minister is closed for people on the very first day.”The barricades were removed around 11am, but that brought little relief. As vehicles poured onto the corridor, traffic began building up rapidly. The tailback extended towards Mayur Vihar, while exits towards DND and Ashram also became congested.Traffic police officials said there was no breakdown or accident causing the jam. Instead, the problem was the sudden concentration of vehicles on the new corridor.Ishmeet, who started her journey around 1.30pm expecting traffic to be lighter, said the situation remained difficult.“It took me nearly 1.5 hours to cover 10km. I had to take the DND exit and then return towards ITO through the conventional Mayur Vihar flyover route. Ashram and Ring Road were also clogged,” she said.The congestion became so severe that some motorists began taking U-turns on the flyover.Kuldeep Singh Yadav, who travelled on the stretch, said the problem appeared to be linked to road design and traffic merging rather than signage.“How can it get choked on the first day? Earlier, I used to take the Nizamuddin route, but Google Maps showed this route today, so I decided to try it. The problem does not seem to be signage. It looks more like a road-design issue, with traffic merging at certain points,” he said.Yadav pointed to the narrowing of the road after the river crossing and the merging of traffic from Ring Road and the Sarai Kale Khan side.“I feel this could become a daily problem, with Barapullah-III ending up like Pragati Maidan tunnel,” he said.
‘Nearly 1 lakh vehicles entered corridor’
Traffic police officers said no direction had been issued to open the Mayur Vihar entry in the morning. They also said traffic from NH-24 and DND shifted to the new corridor, with nearly one lakh vehicles entering the stretch in a short span.While NH-24 and DND remained relatively clear, the Barapullah stretch towards JLN Stadium became heavily congested as traffic failed to disperse towards Ring Road.An officer said the new corridor has three lanes compared with two on the old carriageway, but traffic would need time to balance out.“The links to DND and Ashram have also added to the load,” another officer said.Officials also pointed out that the project had originally been planned around 12 years ago, based on traffic volumes at the time. If a large proportion of NH-24 and DND traffic shifts to the new corridor, congestion could continue, they said.Greater use of conventional routes could eventually help distribute traffic more evenly, officials added.Meanwhile, PWD tents were seen occupying space on the other carriageway, adding to concerns over traffic management.
AIIMS-Mayur Vihar carriageway to open Thursday
Traffic officials said the carriageway from AIIMS towards Mayur Vihar would be opened by Thursday afternoon. They expressed hope that opening both directions would ease the pressure on the corridor.On the initial barricading at the Mayur Vihar entry, an official said the confusion was caused by the person managing a PWD tent.“The confusion happened because the person managing the tent was not cooperating. As soon as the issue came to our notice, we immediately removed the barricades,” the official said.“Once traffic is opened on both sides, the situation should ease as one set of commuters will use the new route, while others will continue using the DND-Ring Road route towards east Delhi,” the official added.PWD sources, meanwhile, defended the opening of the long-delayed project.“Completing the decade-old project itself was a significant step. We can’t take responsibility for what happened before we took charge. It is an achievement that a stuck, dead project was brought to life and finally opened,” a PWD source said.“If you ask us about the current projects, we are planning for the next 30 years,” the source added.
