Commuters travelling from Jaipur towards the capital, via the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, are likely to experience some delay through the week as three lanes of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover will remain closed to traffic. Officials claimed that test runs need to be carried out on the carriageway, where repair work was undertaken recently after a concrete slab fell on April 23, leaving a 2×2 pothole in its wake.
After the incident, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) sought a report from IIT-Mumbai, and started work on the structure in accordance with the recommendations. “The work of repairing the flyover has been completed by Valecha Engineering Limited, under the supervision of the authority engineer, on the basis of IIT-Mumbai’s report,” said Ashok Sharma, project director, NHAI.
“Keeping traffic safety in mind, three lanes have been closed for the week, but on the basis of the traffic police’s recommendations, one lane has been left open for commuters,” he said.
A visit to the spot, however, revealed that the entire carriageway had been cordoned off and closed to traffic — with only two-wheelers and bikes being able to sneak past, using the single functioning lane of the flyover.
This is the second time in less than two months that such a step has been undertaken. The 1.4 km-long, eight-lane flyover, constructed at a cost of Rs 1.98 crore, was inaugurated last July by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.