Arterial roads sink in, civic bodies pass buck

Wednesday, 07 July, 2010


It is one of the busiest arterial roads in the city, where approximately 65,789 vehicles ply everyday. But on a day when South Delhi's Aurobindo Marg road caved in, throwing traffic out of gear, none of the civic agencies came forward to own responsibility. While commuters had a harrowing time finding
their way on this stretch, civic agencies responsible for carrying out the repair work were busy passing the buck. "We had handed over the road to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for carrying out construction activity. It is their responsibility to repair it now," said Prithvi Raj Sawhney, Delhi mayor.

While on Aurobindo Marg, the road caved in at various spots, another road in North Delhi's Shakti Nagar area caved in. However, MCD officials claimed that the road belongs to the Public Works Department (PWD) of Delhi government.

"After the road caved in, both the carriageways were closed for vehicles as it would have affected repair work," said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of Police, (traffic).

To repair Aurobindo Marg, the Delhi traffic police had barricaded the entire area and the both the carriageways from AIIMS to IIT were closed for vehicular movement. Out of the 2.5-km-long stretch, more than 300 meters on both sides of the carriageway was damaged due to showers.

"A four-feet-deep crater had developed on the road. The road has been constructed over a sewerage line and due to constant leakages, it road became soft and gave way," said a senior official. DMRC engineers who were present on the site were carrying out repair work.

"We have completed the construction work but as the road caved in, we were trying to help civic agencies in carrying out repair work," said a Delhi Metro Rail C spokesperson.

 

Waterlogging

Complaints of waterlogging were received from across the city, with the MCD receiving 102 complaints. Areas such as Dhaula Kuan, Naraina, ITO, IIT, Chirga Delhi flyover, Kalkaji Extension, Loni Road, Dwarka underpass, Bhogal, Ashram, Munirka, Ber Sarai, Mehrauli Gurgaon road, among others, were affected badly.

Traffic movement on all major roads connecting Gurgaon and Delhi, including the Gurgaon Expressway and M.G. Road came to a standstill and Gurgaon-bound commuters from Delhi and Faridabad took about four-five hours to reach the border. There was a five-km-long jam on the Expressway between the Toll Plaza and IFFCO Chowk and the same was the case on M.G. Road.

 

Flight delays

Heavy rains and stormy weather on Wednesday led to flight delays and diversions at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). Two flights had to be diverted to nearby airports due to strong tailwinds at the airport. Many evening flights also got delayed by one to three hours due to severe traffic congestion. The heavy rains and strong winds at 4.30 pm coincided with the peak hour traffic for domestic flights at the airport, leading to delays.

The IGI airport witnessed a dense cloud over the runways in the evening and IGI Met Department issued warnings about heavy rains.

Torrential rains reduced the visibility to around 1,500 metres at the airport, an airport weather official said.

Original news source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Arterial-roads-sink-in-civic-bodies-pass-buck/Article1-568942.aspx