NEW DELHI: Residents of several localities in South Delhi’s Sainik farm have been struggling with poor connectivity for over a year, owing to the poor condition of the area’s major artery, IGNOU main road.
The pothole-riddled stretch, which falls under the Public Works Department (PWD), has become increasingly congested, exacerbated by the construction of Delhi Metro’s Golden Line.
IGNOU Road serves as a vital link between Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Mehrauli-Badarpur Road connecting residential areas such as Neb Sarai, Freedom Fighters Enclave, Paryavaran Complex and Saidulajaib village to Saket metro station. Most bylanes that feed traffic onto the main road are riddled with potholes which are quite deep and frequent. According to local resident Sanjay Lal, driving in the locality is drought with risks and accidents are quite common. “I have made several complaints to the PWD but no action is ever taken,” he said.
The PWD online portal shows that a total of 81 complaints have been registered regarding the road, of which 80 have been marked as closed. Another major concern is the state of the road’s footpaths. Sakshi Singh, who uses the road to commute to the metro station on foot said, “The footpaths here are completely unusable due to encroachments. This pushes pedestrians onto the road alongside vehicular traffic.”
The road also sees frequent overflow of drains during both the monsoon and dry seasons, adding to commuters’ woes.
The construction of the Golden Line (Aerocity to Tughlakabad) as part of DMRC’s Phase 4 expansion has severely hampered the movement of traffic on the road. In November, the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) had permitted DMRC to temporarily use 1.23
hectares of Ridge forest land for traffic diversion during Neb Sarai Metro station construction, stressing that no trees be felled and the land be restored afterwards.
The Ridge Management Board had approved the plan in April, but final clearance from the Supreme Court is pending. Two alternate routes will be used to ease congestion, with temporary paver blocks for vehicular movement. Environmentalists oppose the move, arguing that no project should encroach upon forested areas, which serve as the city’s ecological “lungs.”