Now Reading: Barapullah Phase-III opens to 3.5-km jam, commuters stuck for 55 minutes
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Barapullah Phase-III opens to 3.5-km jam, commuters stuck for 55 minutes
Barapullah Phase-III opens to 3.5-km jam, commuters stuck for 55 minutes
The Story in Brief
A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated it, the Barapullah Phase-III elevated corridor in Delhi saw a 3.5-km traffic jam on Wednesday, 30 September, with commuters reporting waits of 40 to 60 minutes, The Hindu reports. The Times of India says a tailback of nearly 3 km was reported on the Mayur Vihar Phase-1-Sarai Kale Khan stretch. Delhi Traffic Police said 5 to 6 lakh vehicles converged on the new route, overwhelming the road network at its exit.
South Delhi traffic Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Gupta told The Hindu that Google Maps directed commuters towards the new corridor without showing congestion, causing a sudden concentration of traffic. The new six-lane corridor feeds into the older two-lane Barapullah Phase-II, creating a bottleneck of seven to eight lanes merging into two, he said. Police temporarily stopped vehicles from entering the flyover from the Mayur Vihar side and diverted traffic towards NH-24.
The Times of India reports that police said the congestion had been noted on priority and officers were directed to step up regulation. The carriageway from AIIMS towards Mayur Vihar is expected to open by Thursday, 1 October afternoon, PWD officials said.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Livemint and the earlier Times of India reports focus on the inauguration ceremony and the government's promise of a 15-minute commute, omitting any operational challenges. The Hindu leads with the day-one gridlock, quoting police data and commuter accounts, while The Times of India's later stories also report the congestion but attribute it to teething issues and traffic pattern assessment. The contrast is between a launch-framing that treats the project as complete upon inauguration and an operations-framing that reveals inadequate capacity planning for the merging of seven lanes into two. The police and PWD say the situation should ease once both carriageways open on 1 October and Google Maps updates its live traffic data.
Coverage: 5 sources, 2 government-critical, 3 neutral
Sources (5): livemint.com (neutral report), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report), thehindu.com (government critical), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2) (neutral report), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (3) (government critical)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
Update, 1 October 2026: this story now draws on 5 sources.
