Traffic snarls at Palam Flyover near Sector 1/7 signal have now become a routine affair.
Hour-long jams at Palam Flyover near Sector 1/7 signal have now become a routine affair. The problem is so serious that school buses on that route have now changed their timings, and now ply with a margin of more than 30 minutes. Things have gotten worse after the start of the Magenta Line at the newly-constructed Palam Metro Station.
Here’s a case in point:
Sanjeev Kumar had to meet the chief engineer of Dwarka at his office in Manglapuri at around 1pm. His car just stopped moving at Palam Flyover near Sector 1/7 signal and he had to wait for more than 45 minutes to reach the DDA office in Manglapuri, which is just a kilometre away from that signal.
Rakesh Singh, a resident of Palam, said, “For the last one month, the problem has been worse with merging of traffic from Manglapuri Bus Terminal, Palam Metro Station and Dwarka through Master Plan Road Number 201 towards Manglapuri. Now, it takes more than half an hour to cross the stretch — during peak hours, it’s even more.”
“Besides cars, DTC buses, RTVs, battery rickshaws and auto rickshaws ply on this route. DTC buses take this stretch to reach Manglapuri terminal, while battery rickshaws, RTVs and autos approach Manglapuri Market and the metro stations. So, there’s mixed traffic on a stretch that’s not too wide, making it extremely difficult to negotiate during peak hours,” complained Maheshwari Sinha, a resident of Sector 7.
City Spidey got in touch with the traffic inspector of the area, Rajender Singh.
He said he has indeed written to the civic bodies to rid the stretch of encroachment on both sides. He has also asked for more staff to be permanently deployed in the area.
Unfortunately, he conceded, this year, the staff strength has reduced by 40 as compared to last year.