15 mins promised, 1 hour in traffic’: Commuters flag jams on Delhi’s Barapullah Phase-III days after opening
The newly opened Delhi Barapullah Phase-III corridor, which was intended to ease traffic congestion for commuters, saw nearly 3-kilometre-long jams. The flyover, built at a cost of around ₹1,635 crore, was inaugurated just two days ago (Tuesday) by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Several commuters speaking to news agency PTI stated that traffic was moving at a snail’s pace, with a tailback nearly 3 km long.
The Barapullah Phase-III elevated corridor connects Mayur Vihar Phase-I with Sarai Kale Khan. It also improves connectivity towards AIIMS and other parts of South Delhi.
A commuter said he was stuck for around 40 minutes while travelling from Mayur Vihar Phase-I towards central Delhi during the afternoon. Another took 55 minutes to reach the intersection point of the flyover.
Another commuter stated that he managed to move a kilometre in only 50 minutes.
Social media was also filled with traffic complaints, with a user saying: “15 minutes promised. An hour in traffic. 😐 Delhi’s Barapullah Phase III was supposed to make the Mayur Vihar–South Delhi commute significantly faster. But on Day 1, commuters faced major congestion, with traffic reportedly backed up for several kilometres. And the interesting part? One of the bottlenecks was where multiple lanes of traffic eventually merged into fewer lanes.
This got me thinking – are we really solving Delhi’s traffic problem by building more roads and flyovers, if the traffic eventually gets squeezed at the next junction?
Maybe the answer isn’t just more roads, but better end-to-end traffic planning.
It’s still early days, and hopefully the bottlenecks are addressed. But this is something Delhi-NCR needs to get right as the city keeps growing.”
The gridlock was reported during the morning peak hours between 9:30 am and 10 am.
Speaking to The Hindu, a traffic police official said that news about the reduced travel time prompted commuters from all sections to use the new route, leading to a heavy flow of vehicles on the flyover.
“Thousands of cars that used to take NH-24 took the left from Mayur Vihar and came towards the flyover. Those who take the Delhi–Noida Direct (DND) Flyway also took the flyover,” the official told The Hindu.
South Delhi traffic Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Gupta, speaking to The Hindu, also echoed a similar sentiment, suggesting that Google Maps had directed travellers to the new corridor without highlighting the congestion.
“Google showed commuters the route but did not show the traffic layering. Everyone kept coming, but there was no option to return or get down,” he said.
