At present, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is on the verge of completing work on Metro Phase-III from Aradhana Apartments, Sector-13, RK Puram Ring Road to Sarai Kale Khan, ISBT. The phase is supposed to be completed by mid 2016 and to meet the deadline, DMRC is working day and night. All the stations in phase-III will be underground and it includes stations like Bhikaji Kama Place, Sarojini Nagar Market, Aurbindo Marg, Lajpat Nagar and Hazrat Nizamuddin Station.
Even though the metro services provide great relief to the commuters but the construction phase turns out to be a pain for them. “At this time, the metro construction is going on at the Ring road that is considered to be the busiest stretch. On a daily basis, I get stuck in the traffic at Ashram Chowk for at least 45 minutes,” said Raju Sinha, a resident of Badarpur.
“To maintain easy movement of traffic at major junctions, including South-Extension, Aurbindo Marg and Ashram Chowk, large number of traffic policemen are deployed near the construction site. Also, metro guards are available to guide the travellers,” said a traffic police official. “Despite heavy deployment of traffic policemen and metro guards, the major reason why commuters have to face traffic snarls is that most of the travellers do not listen to the instructions issued by the guards.
People are in such hurry that they do not want to stop even for a while,” said Rajesh, a metro guard at Ashram Chowk.
Because of the construction, the traffic signals have been made non-functional and traffic policemen are deployed as replacements to the signal. But during the peak hours of mornings and evenings, heavy traffic makes management difficult, another official said.
Barricades have also been put up at various stretches to divert traffic in few areas but those on two-wheelers create major chaos by trying to sneak through barricades. This creates problems for four-wheelers and other heavy vehicles.
It has been learnt that the Delhi Traffic Police have prepared diversion plans on all the five points, around which the officials have partially or completely halted traffic movement but the non-cooperation of the public leads to traffic snarls.