₹5,000-crore plan to deal with traffic around redeveloped govt colonies

Union housing and urban affairs ministry and the Delhi Development Authority may discuss this week the funding for an approximately ₹5,000 crore integrated transit plan aimed at handling the expected rise in vehicular traffic around eight government colonies that are being redeveloped by the Centre

The Delhi L-G has asked the DDA to discuss the funding for the project with the urban affairs ministry before it is cleared by UTTIPEC, the apex body for traffic and transportation projects in Delhi.

Officials said the plan includes a nearly 14-km elevated corridor from INA at Aurobindo Marg to Mahipalpur underpass at National Highway-8 and connecting all the flyovers between Moolchand and Moti Bagh, just before the start of the elevated Metro corridor on the Ring Road.

The corridor, a senior DDA official said, will be an alternate route to the IGI airport covering all the general pool residential accommodation (GPRA) colonies in south Delhi —Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Srinivaspuri, Kasturba Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Mohammadpur and Thyagraj Nagar.

The proposal for corridor was tabled by Delhi’s Public Works Department (PWD) in the governing body of the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) in December last year.The PWD got a feasibility study done for the corridor for approval on behalf of the National Buildings Construction Company (NBCC-India) that is involved in the redevelopment of four government colonies in south Delhi.

As per the minutes of the UTTIPEC meeting, seen by HT, the L-G asked DDA vice-chairman to organise a meeting with HUA ministry to “discuss the proposal regarding funding issue”. “GB (Governing Body) directed the proposal to be placed in the governing body meeting of UTTIPEC after detailed discussion with MoHUA,” read the minutes of the meeting, which was finalised on January 14.

It is learnt that DDA is preparing a proposal to discuss with HUA ministry to get clarity on the funding of this project. “It is an expensive project. Before it is cleared by UTTIPEC, the LG just wanted that there should be clarity on its funding,” said a senior DDA official.

The meeting between the DDA and HUA officials to discuss the issue is scheduled this week, said a senior HUA ministry official. “The construction of the transit corridor will be done by CPWD. A revised estimate is under preparation,” said the HUA official.

The Centre is constructing over 25,000 dwelling units and a commercial complex in the seven residential colonies. NBCC India has already redeveloped East Kidwai Nagar.

NBCC-India, which is redeveloping Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar and Netaji Nagar, asked Delhi PWD in 2018 to conduct the feasibility survey of the corridor. A senior NBCC India official said, “The approval process for funding the elevated corridor is going on. It is being discussed with the ministry and will be finalised soon. A meeting was held in this regard in the ministry last month. The process is in the final stages,” said a NBCC official.

While the alignment of the elevated corridor is yet to be finalised, the PWD official said, the plan is to start the corridor from INA and go through Africa Avenue, Nelson Mandela Road and end at Mahipalpur underpass.

Though the feasibility study was done by Delhi PWD, which is the road-owning agency in Delhi, the construction of the corridor is likely to be done by the central Public Works Department as it is a central government-funded project.

A senior Delhi PWD official said, “We were asked to just carry out the feasibility study and get it cleared from UTTIPEC. We will not be executing the project.”

Sarvagya Srivastava, former Delhi PWD engineer-in-chief, said, “With new high-rise development in these colonies, the traffic is bound to increase and the existing road network is not designed to take that kind of load. The Ring Road has already reached the capacity versus volume ratio. The corridor is an afterthought; ideally population density should be planned according to the infrastructure. There is no option but to construct an elevated corridor, as there is no space to widen the road.”