Metro accident chokes traffic in South Delhi

New Delhi, July 13 : It has been quite a battle for Anita Manchanda and thousands of other commuters who had to pass near the site of the Delhi Metro accident in south Delhi Monday, with vehicle movement at a crawl due to the traffic diversions. Most people reached their destination several hours late.

Manchanda, who has her boutique in Greater Kailash, was stuck near the Moolchand flyover for two hours. She shut her shop quite early too, keeping the traffic jam in mind.

A section of the Delhi Metro track under construction collapsed Sunday morning near the Lady Shri Ram College in Zamrudpur. Traffic near the route was diverted due to the rescue operations.

In the morning, office-goers in many parts of south Delhi had to struggle for hours to reach their offices as traffic came to a halt in areas leading to the Metro site where six people were killed on Sunday.

The traffic was completely choked on all roads leading to the commercial hub of Nehru Place, and heavy traffic jams were reported in Greater Kailash, Moolchand, Amar Colony, East of Kailash and Zamrudpur.

Vehicular movement in the evening was no better.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had Sunday closed the traffic on the roads in East of Kailash, Amar Colony and around Lady Shri Ram College to clear the debris from the mishap site.

The traffic was supposed to resume in the area at 6 a.m. Monday but could not as relief work was still going on.

Ankush Raheja, an IT consultant, said: 'I was stuck in East of Kailash for almost three hours. The traffic was just not moving.'

Traffic Supervisor at the site Virendar Kumar said: 'The traffic was supposed to resume but it got delayed.'

A DMRC official said the debris from the accident was expected to be removed by late Monday.

However, people living near the accident site were relieved when their power supply was restored Monday. It had been cut off Sunday as a precautionary measure. But their water supply was not restored and they had to stand in queue to get water from water tankers. The water lines had snapped due to the accident.