Delhi: With Grap 4 curbs gone, revamp on Sarita Vihar flyover to resume soon

Work on the flyover had commenced in early October after a year-long delay but was paused in November due to rising pollution levels

The Public Works Department (PWD) is set to resume repair work on the Sarita Vihar flyover next week with restrictions imposed on construction work under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) lifted across Delhi-NCR, officials aware of the matter said.

New Delhi, India - June 8, 2023: View of Sarita Vihar flyover near Apollo Hospital, in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, June 8, 2023. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) (To Go with Snehil Sinha's story) (HT Archive)

Work on the flyover, located on Mathura Road in southeast Delhi, had commenced in early October after a year-long delay but was paused in November due to rising pollution levels.

PWD had closed parts of the flyover for repair work, for which it had also received the approval of traffic police regarding alternative arrangements. The department has now sought fresh permission from the traffic police.

The first phase of repairs, covering the stretch from Ashram to Badarpur, is already complete, and PWD has now sought permission to begin work on the opposite carriageway. “The traffic will not be closed fully and work will be done on one lane at a time,” said a PWD official.

The repair work was supposed to take 60 days on the carriageways in four phases affecting traffic mainly in the south, east and central Delhi areas, about half of which is completed till now. The remaining work is expected to take another 30 days to finish, the officials cited above said.

The Sarita Vihar flyover was built by the Delhi Development Authority in 2001 and is undergoing its first major repairs after 23 years. Repeated delays have plagued the repair work since its announcement last year.

First, it was delayed in May due to untimely publication of traffic diversion advertisements in newspapers. The NOC (no objection certificate) was then withdrawn by Delhi Traffic Police due to Kanwar movement.

The second time, permission was delayed as monsoon started, leading to higher than usual traffic in the area. The traffic police approved the repair work and necessary arrangements in September, following which repair work started.

A senior traffic police official expressed confidence that fresh approval would be granted promptly.

Traffic disruptions have significantly affected thousands of daily commuters along the busy Mathura Road, as well as residents in Badarpur, Jaitpur, Kalindi Kunj, and New Friends Colony. The area has already endured prolonged traffic chaos last year during work on the Ashram flyover extension.