Dhaula Kuan remains Delhi's nightmare

Nitish Sharma has a harrowing time every day after leaving his home in Noida at 8 am to reach his Gurugram office. Sharma says that it takes him more than two hours to get to office from his home. And these four hours for the round trip to office can get even worse on bad days.

"Irrespective of how early I leave, I spend an average of two hours to get to office. I spend an average of four hours in the commute every single day. And during peak hours the time increases," he says.

Sharma is just one of many Delhi commuters who spend a sizeable part of their day on the road. And one of the main problems is Dhaula Kuan. Home to a major intersection of roads which connect the Delhi NCR region and the road heading towards the airport, Dhaula Kuan remains a nightmare for people in the Capital. Despite a wide road, the traffic woes for people have not decreased. Shoddy planning and blockages ensure that delays continue to hold up commuters.

The problem first begins at the traffic signal at the Dhaula Kuan metro station. As commuters descend from the flyover on the Sardar Patel Marg and travel towards the Delhi Cantonment/Gurugram side, the major problem that a commuter faces is the traffic signal at the Dhaula Kuan metro station. A bus stand and the small shops under the metro station ensure that the left side of the road is blocked with buses.

The situation is made worse by cars that pick up passengers from the metro. They block the straight stretch making it impossible for commuters to move straight towards National Highway 48.

This is not a new problem. In 2015, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari was caught in a major traffic jam on this stretch. After the incident, he had demanded for a study that would suggest possible solutions to the problem.

"I bang my head as I get stuck quite often at Dhaula Kuan in South-West Delhi for 40-45 minutes while coming from or going to the airport," Gadkari was quoted as saying. However, despite the Transport Minister's woes, little seems to have changed in reality.

There are many issues that the authorities have to deal with. To begin with, the right turn towards Cariappa Marg is closed. The only option left for a commuter is to proceed towards National Highway 48 and then take a U-turn. This significantly increases the travel time. Then, there are huge cemented blocks which were put up to segregate people going right (Cariappa Marg) and left (Gurugram/Delhi Cantt) that result in more bottlenecks for the commuters. These issues have remained unresolved and Delhiites continue to suffer because of these.

Reasons

Dhaula Kuan is home to a major intersection of roads that connect Delhi NCR region and the road to the airport. 
Apart from metro station, bus stops and shops under the metro station add to the congestion.
Cemented blocks dividing north and south-bound vehicles create more problems.