NEW DELHI: To find a long-term solution to traffic jams in South Delhi and parts of Gurgaon, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited bids for preparing a detailed plan to build an elevated corridor from INA to the Nelson Mandela Marg in Vasant Kunj. This will be further extended to the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, which will also help reduce congestion on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway.
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which comes under housing and urban affairs ministry, had earlier prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for an elevated link from INA to the Mahipalpur bypass but it did not see the light of day. But soon after BJP came to office in Delhi, the Centre and the city govt revived the plan, and a decision was taken to assign this task to the NHAI, considering its expertise in building such road projects. TOI had first reported this on March 16.
“The options of alignment of the route will be proposed by the successful DPR consultant. We plan to bid out the task soon considering the dire need to complete this project. The entire corridor would be around 25 km to 30 km. While most of it would be elevated, in some sections we may have to build small tunnels or underpasses,” said an official.
Poll
Should the government consider going below the surface for new traffic solutions?
Sources said once completed, people coming from East and South Delhi, taking the Barapulla elevated corridor, would be able to reach the airport easily as the NHAI will build a tunnel connecting the Nelson Mandela Marg to the Shiv Murti interchange. “The plan is to get a complete solution for commuters going to the airport and Gurgaon. This will reduce congestion on the Ring Road and the huge traffic on the NH-48’s Dhaula Kuan-Gurgaon stretch,” said another official.
Some of the experts who were involved in the earlier proposed elevated road project told TOI that almost four years have been lost and the traffic situation has become worse. “Further delay will result in traffic coming to a standstill on the Ring Road. The govt should explore options of going below the surface to meet the increase in traffic flow as acquiring land and blocking traffic on busy stretches may be tough,” said one of them.
As per the earlier estimate, the INA-Mahipalpur bypass elevated project would have cost around Rs 4,500 crore. Now, the cost is likely to increasewith the plan to go up to the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road.
