Though construction work under phase III of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) expansion project is nearing completion, complaints are piling up on the inconvenience caused to daily traffic movements due to diversions and blockading of roads in parts of south Delhi and other areas of the city.
A commuter passing through South Extension Part I, said, “Metro construction has been creating hurdles for vehicular movements. The barricading done is creating a nozzle-like situation which reduces a four-lane road to a two-lane one. This also leads to traffic grinding to a snail’s pace in peak hours.”
Vandana Tyagi, another Delhi resident, who had come to shop in South Extension Part I, told The Sunday Guardian: “I find it difficult to park here. There is so much of diversion that it is difficult to even reverse the car. To park, one has to travel for a kilometer, park and then walk to reach this place. ”
Anuj Dayal, DMRC’s executive director, corporate communications, however, assured residents of looking into the matter so that inconveniences are minimum. He told The Sunday Guardian, “Civil work on Metro Phase III is expected to be over by August this year as we are nearing completion and the inconvenience to commuters will reduce soon. During construction, we took great care to ensure minimum disturbance to the public by restricting our working space to the bare minimum.”
The violet line of the Delhi Metro, which connects ITO in Delhi to Escorts Mujesar in Faridabad, has seen a rise in traffic ever since this line was thrown open to public, due to the presence of residential and official complexes around its network. However, this line mostly runs four-coach trains on narrow gauge tracks unlike in other lines which have six coaches at the least on broad gauge tracks.
Passengers travelling on the violet line on a daily basis have been complaining about the huge rush due to decreased frequency of trains on the line. Some passengers even complained of lack of proper signage and display on trains on the ITO-Mandi House line as they run on a single line. “Since this route is on a single line, someone wanting to go to Escorts Mujesar in Faridabad from ITO can’t do so and has to come to Mandi House to make the onward journey to Escorts Mujesar. This creates of lot of confusion for passengers, especially for those coming for the first time. Another problem is delayed frequency on this line. We have to wait for at least five minutes even during peak hours, causing over-crowding of the Metro at most times,” said Varun Dhody, a daily commuter on the violet line.
Asked about such problems, Dayal said: “There might be some operational problems. We will check on that and fix it as soon as possible. But the ITO to Mandi House problem is because the ITO station was not on the original plan. We opened this station owing to demand from the public. Since there is no ‘reversal facility’ near the ITO station, we have to run trains on the same line for the time being. But once the Heritage Line (Red Fort-Jama Masjid) is open to the public by December this year, the problem would be solved.”
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