Ashram-DND extension flyover construction delayed,  traffic snarls to continue till Feb-end

The construction work of the Ashram-DND extension flyover has been delayed and the flyover will not reopen on February 15, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said after inspecting the progress of the work. He added that the flyover will be open by February-end. The construction of the flyover will be completed by February-end, as per Sisodia. 

Commuters have been facing huge traffic snarls and serpentine jams ever since the Ashram-DND extension flyover was shut down on January 1. Delhi Police had issued a statement saying, “From January 1, both the carriageways of the Ashram flyover will be closed due to the construction of a connecting road between the Ashram flyover and new DND flyover.”  

Massive jams have been reported from areas such as Ring Road, Maharani Bagh, Siddharth Enclave, Mathura Road, Shaheen Bagh, AIIMS, CV Raman Marg, Captain Gaur Marg, Barapullah flyover, Lala Lajpat Rai Road, DND flyway and New Friends Colony. 

The Ashram-DND extension flyover construction is aimed at making traffic movement smoother between Ashram and Noida and it will have 6 lanes. The construction was approved by the Delhi cabinet in December 2019 and the construction work began in June 2020. 

Construction work, however, got delayed due to the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pollution. Besides this, the ban on construction and demolitions in Delhi also led to an indefinite delay in the construction of the flyover. 

The 1.5-km-long flyover is the jugular between South Delhi to Noida in Uttar Pradesh and also a crucial link between south and central Delhi as well as Faridabad. The flyover also links Mathura Road and Ring Road (Lajpat Nagar-Sarai Kale Khan and DND flyover). 

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