Traffic curbs start today for Okhla barrage repair

NOIDA: The Delhi-Noida carriageway of the Mahamaya-Kalindi Kunj route will remain closed from 11pm to 5am every day, beginning Sunday, as the UP irrigation department has got the nod to close the road for changing 40-year-old gates of the Okhla barrage.

The work will continue for about one-and-a-half months, till November 6. The traffic coming from Delhi is likely to be diverted to DND and Chilla border to facilitate the repair work.

Commuters going towards Delhi at night may also face problems as the Noida-Delhi carriageway too will be shut down for about half an hour at night as the irrigation department needs to carry 36 massive gates stationed to the left of gate No 1 near Okhla police chowki to the barrage for the repair work.

SP (traffic) Anil Jha told TOI that the gates would be transported on trucks between 11pm and midnight, depending on traffic pressure, for next 10-12 days starting on Sunday. "The irrigation department will provide us with six personnel to help manage traffic on the route while their trucks pass at night," he said.

An official of the irrigation department said the gates were massive and it would not be possible to transport them together. They would take one or two gates, or even four if required, at a time, he added.

However, for the immersion of Durga idols and Ramleela processions on Mahanavmi and Dussehra, the carriageways will be opened for smooth flow of traffic on two days, i.e. September 29-30.

A board has been installed at a red light near the barrage by the Delhi police which reads that both the carriageways will remain closed for commuters between 11pm and 5am from September 24 to November 6. When asked, traffic inspector Layak Singh told TOI that the board had been put up wrongly.