New Delhi: More than six months after Delhi Traffic Police, civic agencies and the transport department identified 62 major traffic congestion hotspots across the capital and proposed 215 short-, medium- and long-term interventions to ease bottlenecks, work has been completed at 34 locations.However, over a quarter of the proposed measures have been shelved, highlighting that for many parts of the city, the challenge is no longer identifying solutions but finding space to implement them.The hotspots, identified jointly by Delhi Traffic Police, Public Works Department (PWD), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the transport department, include some of the capital’s busiest corridors — from the perennially congested Bhavbhuti Marg outside New Delhi Railway Station to Madhuban Chowk, Mayur Vihar Phase III, South Extension, Punjabi Bagh, Kashmere Gate and Anand Vihar.Of the 215 interventions proposed, 56 have been marked “not feasible” or dropped as they are either clashing with ongoing Metro and civic projects or are facing physical constraints, such as lack of land, narrow carriageways and dense development.For instance, pedestrian spillover, autos and random bus stoppages routinely choke Bhavbhuti Marg, a key artery for Paharganj-bound traffic and central Delhi commuters. The plan for a subway or foot overbridge, originally intended to segregate pedestrians from vehicles, was dropped because it clashed with ongoing redevelopment at the railway station.Meanwhile, Boulevard Road, linking Tis Hazari courts to Kashmere Gate, was considered for a flyover to ease court-hour congestion and reduce delays at traffic signals. The proposal was rejected due to limited road width and complex junction geometry.In south Delhi, road widening near Max Hospital could not proceed due to a lack of land. At Khanpur, a pedestrian subway is under reconsideration, but only once DMRC completes its construction, while the Sarai Kale Khan stretch — a crucial Ring Road-ISBT link — remains constrained by the presence of a green belt and a drain.Old Delhi’s Sadar Bazar belt, one of Asia’s largest wholesale markets, presents another unique challenge. At Baratooti Chowk, Qutab Road and Sadar Thana Road, pedestrianisation was suggested to reduce overlap between shoppers, handcarts, loading vehicles and private traffic. However, officials acknowledged that in these narrow, commerce-dependent lanes, no engineering solution could realistically ease congestion without disrupting trade, underlining how economic activity shapes traffic realities.Across the Yamuna, Seelampur T-point connects dense residential neighbourhoods to arterial routes towards Wazirabad and Shahdara, where land scarcity has stalled parking and flyover proposals.Similarly, at Azadpur Mandi on GTK Road, a critical freight corridor supplying fruits and vegetables across north India, night-time truck queues spill onto main roads. Plans for an elevated corridor or flyover were deferred owing to an ongoing Metro construction, while staggered release of trucks from National Highway-44 was considered an impractical idea.In west Delhi, congestion between Kohat and Madhuban Chowk, largely driven by visitors to Rohini Court, was expected to ease with a multilevel parking facility, but space constraints killed the plan. Naraina Flyover near Rajouri Garden remains hemmed in by surrounding buildings, leaving authorities with limited options beyond traffic management.However, progress has been made on other fronts. Of the 215 interventions, 96 have been completed or incorporated into the regular enforcement and maintenance phase, while 63 remain pending. “Engineering solutions, wherever feasible, have been implemented. At locations constrained by Metro projects, land availability or technical issues, we have intensified enforcement and monitoring,” said additional CP (traffic) Dinesh Kumar Gupta.Extra personnel have been deployed at key stretches, including Vikas Marg, ISBT Anand Vihar and Sardar Patel Marg. Till May 31 this year, traffic police issued over 5.35 lakh challans at the 62 hotspots and conducted 2,745 joint enforcement drives. Thirty key corridors are also under enhanced monitoring with additional manpower.
