Traffic movement on Tuesday was thrown into complete chaos across parts of south-east Delhi after authorities shut the Ring Road section between Maharani Bagh and Ashram Chowk to undertake pipeline repairs.Narrow (internal) roads were unable to take the load of vehicles diverted from Ring Road and many of them remained gridlocked for hours on Tuesday. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)Commuters were stuck for hours as vehicular movement came to a grinding halt on Mahatma Gandhi Road, Mathura Road, Eastern Avenue, CV Raman Marg and other arterial roads. Vehicles moving from Sarai Kale Khan and Noida-DND towards Delhi were hit the hardest and many motorists rued poor traffic management and agency coordination, which they claimed made matters worse.A senior Delhi Jal Board official said a major 1,200mm sewage line near Ashram Chowk was leaking and it had caused the road to settle near the major intersection. “If the work was delayed, it could have led to a complete cave-in. This 1,200mm deep line carries sewage from Red Fort, Supreme Court, WHO, and the New Delhi area towards Okhla STP. Some agency must have carried out drilling or repair work, which triggered the leakage. We sought permission from traffic police and started the repair works around Monday midnight. The leakage has been detected and repaired, and we are hoping that the situation will be resolved by Tuesday night,” the official explained, asking not to be named.According to a Delhi Traffic Police advisory issued on Monday night, the Ring Road carriageway section was to remain completely closed from 10pm on June 15 for approximately three to four days to facilitate repairs.DJB has said the three-day period is a tentative time frame to ensure no fresh leakages are detected after repair and filling work. “Monsoon is ahead of us and such a leakage or road damage could not be left unrepaired,” the official quoted above said.Ritu Sharma, a commuter stuck on the Eastern Avenue Road, said barricading a major road like Ring Road should not have been done without making adequate alternative arrangements. “Such narrow (internal) roads cannot take the load of the entire Ring Road. We have been stuck here for almost an hour and there is no one to regulate traffic or those driving on the wrong side,” Sharma said. For the residents along these roads, the situation was especially troublesome.Chitra Jain, president, New Friends Colony (NFC) RWA, Ashoka Park, said residents were stuck at home unable to move out from their own homes. “This is a terrible situation; all leading roads are jam-packed. People using Mathura Road and those coming from Noida have all been diverted to the colony roads which do not have the capacity to shoulder such volume. We can’t take our cars out, and some of us have been forced to walk from Ring Road to our houses,” she added.According to the advisory issued on Monday night, traffic was expected to be impacted on the Ring Road stretch from Sarai Kale Khan towards Ashram Chowk; the Ring Road stretch from DND Flyway towards Ashram Chowk; and traffic merging from CV Raman Marg onto Ring Road, essentially impacting all commuters travelling towards Ashram Chowk, Faridabad, Noida, and adjoining areas.For traffic from Sarai Kale Khan, ITO, DND Noida and Mayur Vihar towards Faridabad, motorists have been advised to use the Ashram Flyover, take a left towards Captain Gaur Marg and proceed via Okhla Mandi Road, Modi Mill Flyover and Mathura Road.For traffic from DND Flyway towards Ashram, motorists are advised to use Barapullah Elevated Corridor or use Ashram Flyover.A commuter told HT that a two-km stretch – from Eastern Avenue turning into Maharani Bagh till Mata Mandir in New Friends Colony – took over two hours to cover on Tuesday.On ground, the diversions were poorly managed. “An ambulance was stuck, people got out of their cars and just decided to walk. There was barely any police presence, and even the few police personnel who were there had no idea what to do,” said Rajendra Sahu, a cab driver.He said that there was no one to stop people coming from the wrong side, which made the matter worse. “We are just burning fuel since the past one hour. What is the point of putting barricades if no one is regulating traffic?” he added.A senior police officer said, “We have used Okhla Mandi Road and Barapullah as diversions. However, since the traffic has been affected during peak hours, we have deployed more traffic personnel around Ashram and DND to help commuters. Mathura Road is also open. There will be some issues for people travelling from east Delhi to Noida. We are deploying additional personnel to manage the traffic.”Police said traffic congestion won’t be so severe during the night hours. “Traffic personnel have been deployed at key locations to manage diversions and assist motorists. Authorities have also advised commuters to rely on navigation applications for real-time traffic updates as congestion levels may vary depending on repair progress and traffic volume,” the officer said.(updated police comment)