It is 1 pm. At Sadar Bazar Cantonment Metro station, Google Maps estimates a 35-minute drive to the Old Rao Tula Ram (RTR) flyover. Twenty-five minutes later, the estimate remains unchanged.

Nagender (51), an autorickshaw driver who lives in Dwarka Sector 14, shakes his head in frustration. Traffic around him is barely moving.

“There is never this much crowd here. Whoever stepped out today got stuck. For 25 minutes, the map has been showing 35 minutes. We are completely standing still. It shows 21 minutes for 2 km,” he says.

Next to the RTR flyover, traffic has also come to a complete halt at Arjun Path. At five points on the 6-km stretch, traffic has been halted for as long as 20 minutes.

A drive that usually takes less than 20 minutes takes Nagender an hour.

The issue: Temporary closure of the Old RTR flyover carriageway towards Vasant Vihar since Wednesday, after cracks were detected at two locations.…