NEW DELHI: Nearly one-and-a-half months after its inauguration, the carriageway of the Ashram extension flyover from Sarai Kale Khan towards South Delhi is yet to be open for the public which leads to horrendous traffic jams during peak hours around Sarai Kale Khan.
Due to the non-commencement of traffic from the three-lane carriageway of the Ashram Extension flyover (going from Sarai Kale Khan to AIIMS), the traffic is currently passing under the flyover which creates a snarl between Ashram Chowk and DND.
According to officials, the carriageway remained shut due to security reasons. However, the Public Works Department (PWD) officials said that the commuters, travelling towards Lajpat Nagar and AIIMS, may get relief from the first week of May as the department is planning to open the carriageway for commuters. The Ashram Extension Flyover was inaugurated on April 6 but it could not be fully operated.
A high-tension powerline from a tower of Delhi Transco is going right above the carriageway. To avert any mishap, the carriageway was decided to keep closed till the time the tower is shifted. The department has now decided to move that tower by the end of this month.
Officials said that a new tower will be erected where the high-tension electric lines will be shifted. “It will take the next few days to erect the tower which will be situated at a distance from the old tower. Then we will shift the powerline,” a PWD official said.
“The deadline to complete the task is April 30 so that we can check further things and open the carriageway by the first week of May,” he added.