Many will take 15km detour to reach office

Saturday, Oct 02, 2010



With general traffic already barred from the Surajkund Road and the Pul Prahaladpur Road during the Games period, people living in the Charmwood Village  will have to take long detours. Saurabh Abbot, a resident of Charmwood Village, said he reaches his office at GK-II in about 25 minutes.

But with the change in route, he expects to be on the road for about 2.5 hours.''My office is barely 10km away from my house. With the two main access roads closed, I will first have to go in the opposite direction, then access Mathura Road and drive towards Badarpur crossing. It will mean an additional 25km for me. And with everyone heading the same way, just think of the traffic chaos on the already crowded road,'' he said.

With the Badarpur flyover not yet operational, the area is usually choked not just during rush hours but almost through the day. As more people will start using the road, massive traffic jams can be expected. Residents also added that the condition of the NHPC Chowk near Green Fields Colony, that would also have to be used during the period, was pathetic state and jams there were very frequent. ''At a railway underbridge there the road practically doesn't exist. We were told that the road would be repaired but nothing has happened there so far. The underpass is jammed on normal days so it is unlikely that it would be able to handle the increased traffic volume,'' said Virendra Singh, president of Green Fields Colony.

The roads are also an easy access to two main hospitals in the area, Apollo and Batra. Dr J K Sama, a resident of Charmwood Village said: ''Batra hospital is only about 6km from here via the Surajkund Road that connects to Tughlakabad. However, we would now have to drive towards Badkhal which is a good 12km from here and then another 12km to the Badarpur crossing. If only the police had consulted us before passing such an order, we might have been able to come up with an alternate plan that wouldn't cause residents so much inconvenience.''

Police officials, however, maintained that they had held a meeting with residents to discuss the issue several days back. Joint CP Anil Rao told TOI: ''We don't want the routes to be used as thoroughfares, specially since the Karni Singh shooting range is situated on the Surajkund Road. Obviously, if someone has his office or home on the roads, they will not be stopped. Check-points will be set up to keep track of those using the road.''

Original news source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/-Many-will-take-15km-detour-to-reach-office-/articleshow/6667821.cms#ixzz11MhT2X00