Dwarka Flyover - What a fiasco!

travelwriter · 25th March 2009, 10:27

The Dwarka flyover over Palam village in Delhi is a vital link in getting in and out of Dwarka. This flyover is around 4.5 kms long and crosses the Palam village and the ralway tracks. The flyover came up around 5 years back. It reduced the crossing time from around 40 minutes (mainly due to the level crossing) to around 6 minutes.

I take the flyover daily and it takes me exactly 4.5 minutes to cross it. It is S-shaped in the middle and you have to slow down.

In this month, this flyover has seen 6 accidents (in a span of 7 days, actually). All of them were fatal and all involved bikers and scooterists. Then the fiasco started.

One Hindi new channel started covering this story in its typically animated style saying that the admin is sleeping and people are dying and all that. Traffic policemen said that this was due to rash driving and the media blamed everything from car drivers to the basic design of the flyover.

Result? 3 speed breakers have come up right in the middle of the flyover. Now there is a kilometre long traffic jam daily and the speed has reduced to a crawl on the flyover. It now takes anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes to cross the flyover. What a shame! The purpose of a flyover has been destroyed.

A splendid roadway reduced to a mess by thoughtless administration and a hyper, senseless and irresponsible news channel. They failed to see that all the bikers that were unfortunately killed (all but one incident happened in late night) ended up facing the consequences of rash driving. Just imagine a family of 4 on a scooter going at 60+ and trying to negotiate a sharp turn on the flyover. Or two young guys on a bike returning from a wedding at 2 in the night riding at 90+.

I have seen guys triple riding on a motor bike on that flyover, bikers coming down the flyover on the wrong side and flashing headlights at on-coming vehicles...all these lead to accidents.

And what does the administration do? Na rahega baans, na bajegi bansuri. Just stop vehicles from moving. No accidents and everyone is happy.

Happy? I am pissed off and so are hundreds of office goers who traverse the city for over 30 kms taking different routes to reach home early by 5 minutes or 10 minutes and find themselves stuck on the flyover just before home for over 20 minutes. It was a breeze then. It is a mess now.

suman · 25th March 2009, 11:17

I can imagine your frustration. This is a typical knee-jerk reaction from the police & the administration. I saw pictures the other day of some political party representatives doing some sort of "havan" or something - few of them even said they're going to put up a small temple at that point. The Stone Age all over again

ashthedivx · 25th March 2009, 11:33

Last week, I went to dwarka after a long time from my office i.e. nehru place. After crossing the national airport it was jiffy ride and was quite amused to see the goods roads and things going. At some moments it looked like I might be looked over by speed guns

but no where i found speed guns or anythings.

Though the fun ended while the bridge was ending up i.e. near sec 5-6 all thanks to speed brakers and long chaos. I actually found it a little irritating to have such blind turn at a flyover. I would have been great if it was designed in such a manner to have clear sight of traffic at the end as well. For me it is a design flaw.

esteem_lover · 25th March 2009, 11:34

How pathetic ! This is a sorry state of admin. Hope someone soon comes to their senses. I can really understand the frustration.

Eddy · 25th March 2009, 11:39

Yep, its a flawed reaction to a situation that could have been handled without too much fuss. And the problem is, that there is no alternative route to connect to South Delhi. Its a mess during peak hours.

Thankfully, I don't have to take that route !!

travelwriter · 25th March 2009, 11:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

...doing some sort of "havan" ...

Yes, that was in the papers. That was really funny. What some people can do to get their 15 minutes of fame!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

Last week, I went to dwarka...I would have been great if it was designed in such a manner to have clear sight of traffic at the end as well. For me it is a design flaw.

For the first timers, yes you could be right that this is an imperfect design, maybe not a flaw. But I was told by the old timers here that the flyover construction company had asked for permission to raze a few buildings and shops that came in the way. But political will prevailed (apparently election time) and the engineers had to find a via media, literally.

But even then, it is not unsafe. What was required is proper indication of turns and twists. But speed breakers are ridiculous

Dry Ice · 28th March 2009, 19:12

I second whatever Travelwriter has said. I have been using this flyover for the last 4-5 years and done that at all times of day. I use it regularly these days. The only problem this flyover has is smooth straight roads leading to it (from both dwarka and airport side) and most riders never care to slow down even on the narrow two laned flyover. The problem is anything but a design flaw, its more about the care-a-damn attitude of people using it.

As far as the speedbreakers are concerned, well, thats the expected reaction from the traffic police. Though I dont think they will last long with the trucks and buses not caring to slow down.

A bit OT here: Any of the BHPians staying in dwarka, have you ever encountered these "Police" buses painted all blue,carrying staff maybe?? These are always driven rashly, jumping red-lights, changing lanes at will, stopping at will, you name it and they do it. I encounter them daily, wish could do something about them too.

dreamdiesel · 28th March 2009, 19:34

Seriously, these things happen only in INDIA. The engineers dont foresee and problems and build a flyover. Here in Bangalore, we have a traffic policeman manning a junction on top of the flyover. I think its the only flyover in the world with a traffic junction on top with a policeman managing the junction.

aerohit · 29th March 2009, 04:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

Seriously, these things happen only in INDIA. The engineers dont foresee and problems and build a flyover. Here in Bangalore, we have a traffic policeman manning a junction on top of the flyover. I think its the only flyover in the world with a traffic junction on top with a policeman managing the junction.

haha residency road - wilson garden flyover

may be they should just install a Stop light on that flyover

Cant imagine the Stop light malfunctioning and vehicles crashing and flying midair over the flyover - or either due to people skipping the Stop light.

equinox22 · 29th March 2009, 05:59

Are these the huge back breaking speed breakers? If so then soon some rash bike rider is going to crash at the same spot and there will be a hue and cry about getting rid of them.

Perakath · 29th March 2009, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

Seriously, these things happen only in INDIA. The engineers dont foresee and problems and build a flyover. Here in Bangalore, we have a traffic policeman manning a junction on top of the flyover. I think its the only flyover in the world with a traffic junction on top with a policeman managing the junction.

And elsewhere in the country we have bus stops on flyover inclines. I always wonder where the pedestrians are supposed to go from there! Perhaps there are steps leading down or something. (I can't recall where I saw this-- perhaps Bombay, or the Dhaula Kuan grade separator in Delhi.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by equinox22

Are these the huge back breaking speed breakers? If so then soon some rash bike rider is going to crash at the same spot and there will be a hue and cry about getting rid of them.

More likely to be the compact yellow-and-black press-on type. I hate all speedbreakers with a vengeance, but at least this type is more visible than the unpainted humps in the road. Probably safer to traverse at high speed, too.

Eddy · 29th March 2009, 11:29

Yeah, these are the compact yellow-and-black press-on type on the Dwarka flyover.

architect · 31st March 2009, 12:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

The engineers dont foresee and problems and build a flyover.

Atleast for the Dwarka flyover, you can't blame engineers for it. The government was unable to raze some (mostly illegal) construction and that's how this famous S-curve happenned.

I take that route once in 6 months but I always manage to negotiate that curve safely at sane speeds. Of course, don't blame me if some maniac takes the wrong side.

Most of the people killed in the series of accidents discussed here were regular users, from what I have read, and not first time users. How did they manage to go off the flyover? What speeds were they doing? With 4 people on a bike?

Off topic: 90% of Delhi drivers don't stick to their lanes on curves. It just needs one curve and everybody starts behaving like schumacher and sticking to racing lines.

travelwriter · 31st March 2009, 13:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by architect

...90% of Delhi drivers don't stick to their lanes...

So well said. None of the bikers I have seen obeys any traffic rule. They overtake from the wrong side. They even climb over the footpath to get ahead (ever been on the Ghazipur highway stretch?). There are 3 people riding on a bike, they go on the wrong side, drive slow on the extreme right lane, jut out a hand assuming people will understand where they want to turn...these are the things that lead to an accident.

And, yes, the blue police vans that ferry staff are a nightmare. I just let them pass by and then resume my journey.

But I am hopeful a night will come, when the world will be sleeping and some angels driving call centre cabs will just stop, uproot the sppedbreakers and be on their way giving us freedome when the sun rises.

(It can be done only in the night, you see.)

25th March 2009, 10:27	#1
travelwriter BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 294 Thanked: 115 Times	Dwarka Flyover - What a fiasco! The Dwarka flyover over Palam village in Delhi is a vital link in getting in and out of Dwarka. This flyover is around 4.5 kms long and crosses the Palam village and the ralway tracks. The flyover came up around 5 years back. It reduced the crossing time from around 40 minutes (mainly due to the level crossing) to around 6 minutes. I take the flyover daily and it takes me exactly 4.5 minutes to cross it. It is S-shaped in the middle and you have to slow down. In this month, this flyover has seen 6 accidents (in a span of 7 days, actually). All of them were fatal and all involved bikers and scooterists. Then the fiasco started. One Hindi new channel started covering this story in its typically animated style saying that the admin is sleeping and people are dying and all that. Traffic policemen said that this was due to rash driving and the media blamed everything from car drivers to the basic design of the flyover. Result? 3 speed breakers have come up right in the middle of the flyover. Now there is a kilometre long traffic jam daily and the speed has reduced to a crawl on the flyover. It now takes anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes to cross the flyover. What a shame! The purpose of a flyover has been destroyed. A splendid roadway reduced to a mess by thoughtless administration and a hyper, senseless and irresponsible news channel. They failed to see that all the bikers that were unfortunately killed (all but one incident happened in late night) ended up facing the consequences of rash driving. Just imagine a family of 4 on a scooter going at 60+ and trying to negotiate a sharp turn on the flyover. Or two young guys on a bike returning from a wedding at 2 in the night riding at 90+. I have seen guys triple riding on a motor bike on that flyover, bikers coming down the flyover on the wrong side and flashing headlights at on-coming vehicles...all these lead to accidents. And what does the administration do? Na rahega baans, na bajegi bansuri. Just stop vehicles from moving. No accidents and everyone is happy. Happy? I am pissed off and so are hundreds of office goers who traverse the city for over 30 kms taking different routes to reach home early by 5 minutes or 10 minutes and find themselves stuck on the flyover just before home for over 20 minutes. It was a breeze then. It is a mess now.
	(1) Thanks

25th March 2009, 11:17	#2
suman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Kolkata Posts: 4,589 Thanked: 279 Times View My Garage	I can imagine your frustration. This is a typical knee-jerk reaction from the police & the administration. I saw pictures the other day of some political party representatives doing some sort of "havan" or something - few of them even said they're going to put up a small temple at that point. The Stone Age all over again
	(1) Thanks

25th March 2009, 11:33	#3
ashthedivx Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 1,356 Thanked: 24 Times	Last week, I went to dwarka after a long time from my office i.e. nehru place. After crossing the national airport it was jiffy ride and was quite amused to see the goods roads and things going. At some moments it looked like I might be looked over by speed guns but no where i found speed guns or anythings. Though the fun ended while the bridge was ending up i.e. near sec 5-6 all thanks to speed brakers and long chaos. I actually found it a little irritating to have such blind turn at a flyover. I would have been great if it was designed in such a manner to have clear sight of traffic at the end as well. For me it is a design flaw.
	() Thanks

25th March 2009, 11:34	#4
esteem_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Madras/Py Posts: 7,556 Thanked: 502 Times View My Garage	How pathetic ! This is a sorry state of admin. Hope someone soon comes to their senses. I can really understand the frustration.
	() Thanks

25th March 2009, 11:39	#5
Eddy Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 9,388 Thanked: 13,303 Times	Yep, its a flawed reaction to a situation that could have been handled without too much fuss. And the problem is, that there is no alternative route to connect to South Delhi. Its a mess during peak hours. Thankfully, I don't have to take that route !!
	() Thanks

28th March 2009, 19:12	#7
Dry Ice Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: -- Posts: 3,552 Thanked: 7,262 Times	I second whatever Travelwriter has said. I have been using this flyover for the last 4-5 years and done that at all times of day. I use it regularly these days. The only problem this flyover has is smooth straight roads leading to it (from both dwarka and airport side) and most riders never care to slow down even on the narrow two laned flyover. The problem is anything but a design flaw, its more about the care-a-damn attitude of people using it. As far as the speedbreakers are concerned, well, thats the expected reaction from the traffic police. Though I dont think they will last long with the trucks and buses not caring to slow down. A bit OT here: Any of the BHPians staying in dwarka, have you ever encountered these "Police" buses painted all blue,carrying staff maybe?? These are always driven rashly, jumping red-lights, changing lanes at will, stopping at will, you name it and they do it. I encounter them daily, wish could do something about them too.
	(1) Thanks

28th March 2009, 19:34	#8
dreamdiesel BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 420 Thanked: 62 Times	Seriously, these things happen only in INDIA. The engineers dont foresee and problems and build a flyover. Here in Bangalore, we have a traffic policeman manning a junction on top of the flyover. I think its the only flyover in the world with a traffic junction on top with a policeman managing the junction.
	() Thanks

29th March 2009, 05:59	#10
equinox22 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chicago/Pune Posts: 165 Thanked: 6 Times View My Garage	Are these the huge back breaking speed breakers? If so then soon some rash bike rider is going to crash at the same spot and there will be a hue and cry about getting rid of them.
	() Thanks

29th March 2009, 11:29	#12
Eddy Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 9,388 Thanked: 13,303 Times	Yeah, these are the compact yellow-and-black press-on type on the Dwarka flyover.
	() Thanks