The shutting of the Byculla flyover for repairs left commuters incensed on Friday morning as vehicular movement was hit all the way till Parel. Commuters were trapped in traffic stalemate for over an hour till late in the evening and complained they were not alerted either by the traffic department or the BMC.

Many aired their bile on social networking sites. A commuter tweeted, “The stalemate on the Lalbaug flyover was so harrowing that it took me 90 minutes just to get from one end to another”.

“Even at 7.30 pm, there was a huge jam near Lalbaug flyover towards south Mumbai,” tweeted another.

A few motorists in order to avoid the traffic buildup at Byculla decided to take P D’Mello Road but the street near Carnac Bunder too was dug up. The traffic police personnel were deployed afterward and diversions announced.

The civic body will carry out repairs to fortify the joints of this 37-year-old flyover for 15 days.  The bridge was built in 1977 by the PWD. Earlier the BMC tried to resurface the bridge without upsetting traffic and had tried to restore the joints, but couldn’t do so without shutting it down.

“We sought 30-40 days to complete the repair work, but the traffic department didn’t give permission for such a long time. Hence we revised the plan,” said S PKori, chief engineer (bridges.

Blaming cops the BMC said they should have given sufficient publicity to the closure. Traffic department, on the contrary, said they made proclamations through FM channels and displayed messages on VMS boards at junctions about the flyover closure, adding they will put up diversion signs at junctions.

“The structural defects in the flyover necessitated proper repairing before the first shower. Traffic cops will remain there from 7.30am as vehicular movement to south Mumbai starts at around 8am. Twenty-five traffic wardens have also been deployed,” informed additional traffic police commissioner Qaiser Khalid.