New Delhi: In a city where jams often seem endless, Delhi Traffic Police have moved with urgency to ease congestion. At least five out of 12 critical corridors have undergone partial fixes, including jersey barriers at unsafe cuts, barricades at key spots and extra staff deployment. Two stretches have seen major changes, including a trimmed roundabout and staff deployment. Bigger works remain pending, with letters sent to civic agencies for action.Earlier this year, joint inspections were conducted across all 12 critical corridors. Based on these studies, traffic police said they implemented measures directly in some locations and referred larger interventions to agencies such as PWD, MCD and NHAI.“The exercise began with the first step of identifying the problems. At some locations, changes have already been made, while at others, only partial or temporary measures are in place. Letters have also been sent to the civic agencies. The proposed solutions, once implemented, will bring significant improvements,” said Dinesh Kumar Gupta, additional CP (traffic, zone II).Among the 12 stretches is the one between Mangi Bridge and Majnu Ka Tila on Ring Road, which would often see bottlenecks on a daily basis. Traffic from four lanes of Outer Ring Road and three of Ring Road converges at Salim Garh Y-point, before crawling past Hanuman Setu towards ISBT Kashmere Gate. Moreover, inflow from the Hanuman Mandir service road adds to the pressure.To reduce the chaos, traffic police have closed the central cut at Hanuman Setu and removed old foot overbridge (FOB) pillars that encroached on usable carriageway near Majnu Ka Tila. However, much remains pending, including new footbridges at Majnu Ka Tila and Monastery Market, dedicated parking spaces, and proper directional signage to control roadside halting.Visible measures have also been implemented on Rani Jhansi Road from Panchkuian to Filmistan. Once crippled by oversized roundabouts at Jhandewalan and Eidgah, the corridor now benefits from reduced circle diameters, a new traffic signal at Eidgah, and fresh markings that lend order to movement. Encroachment removal drives have reclaimed some road space, and 23 personnel are deployed daily for regulation. Yet, the problem is far from solved. Despite repeated reminders to the horticulture department, large trees and park boundaries continue to jut into the carriageway, narrowing the lanes.In the north, GTK Road bears the load of the wholesale market at Azadpur, with trucks, carts, rickshaws and thousands of pedestrians competing for space. Metro construction has further narrowed the carriageway, while uneven surfaces and blocked passages worsen the mess. Safety railings, drainage repairs, merging of bus stops and sealing of unsafe cuts were all recommended in April, but none has been carried out so far.A similar picture emerges at the Libaspur underpass on NH-44, where trucks from multiple directions clash in a tangle of U-turns. Some relief has come in the form of relocated bus stops and the posting of additional enforcement staff, but structural upgrades, such as widening the bridge, installing blinkers and building protective barriers, remain with the highway authority.In Anand Vihar, one of Delhi’s busiest transit hubs, uneven stretches have been levelled, central verges repaired and barricades shifted inwards to ease the flow. An FOB project has been cleared by PWD, parking allotted to UP Roadways, and prosecutions against illegal parking stepped up. Regular encroachment drives and daily street vendor clearances are now routine. Even so, the absence of proper pedestrian infrastructure, the short stay time for buses inside ISBT, and the lack of dedicated spaces for autos and app-based cabs continue to choke the hub.Just a few kilometres away, at Khajuri Chowk, where traffic from five directions converges chaotically, only stopgap measures have been put in place. Unsafe cuts have been blocked with jersey barriers, but critical proposals to shift a DTC bus stop, create a U-turn at Signature Bridge and install a signal at the chowk are yet to be implemented.On NH-48 between Shankar Vihar and Shiv Murti — where a maze of road and tunnel projects near Dwarka and the airport feed into the corridor — traffic police worked with NHAI to close or divert several entry and exit points. This eased some pressure, but the area remains under strain from overlapping flows from Gurgaon, Mahipalpur, Rangpuri and IGI Airport. On the Ring Road between Safdarjung Hospital and Dhaula Kuan, resurfacing and signage work is underway, but the proposed widening near the AIIMS loop and bottleneck fixes around the Hyatt Regency and Moti Bagh flyovers remain pending.The western corridors underline the city’s chronic struggle with encroachments and civic apathy. From Zakhira to Dwarka Mor along Shivaji Marg, missing central verge grills, unmarked zebra crossings, encroachments and transformers placed on the road all combine to slow traffic. Joint drives with MCD were conducted in May, but most proposals remain on paper.A similar story plays out on Rohtak Road between Zakhira flyover and Mundka, where PWD has been repeatedly urged to shut unsafe cuts, relocate service lanes and create proper U-turns. Ongoing drain work has resulted in debris strewn across carriageways, only worsening congestion.In south Delhi, the Outer Ring Road stretch between Chirag Dilli and Modi Mill flyovers still suffers from damaged verges, missing protective barriers, unauthorised cuts and illegal debris dumping. Some re-carpeting has been completed, but major fixes, such as road widening near Greater Kailash metro station, remain unresolved.Meanwhile, on MG Road, between Andheria Mor and Aya Nagar, the wait continues for a signal-free corridor. Traffic police have proposed closing seven signals and replacing them with controlled U-turns, but the plan awaits approval from the civic agency.
