Noida civic body to resume work on 5.5 elevated road over Shahdara drain soon

The Noida authority Tuesday said it will soon restart work on the 5.5km elevated road being built over Shahdara drain, between Delhi’s Chilla village and Noida’s Sector 94.

The work on the 5.5km elevated road was disrupted owing to alignment issues of the Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) route and another road proposed from Ghazipur to Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway, both of which also passes through the area, the Noida authority officials said.

As of now, motorists face severe congestion on a 3km stretch that connects East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar-I to Noida Expressway, passing through sectors 14A, 15A and 16A and the elevated corridor was proposed at a cost of Rs 650 crore to end this traffic chaos.

The authority had started work on this elevated road on January 25, 2019, immediately after chief minister Yogi Adityanath laid the foundation stone for the project. The elevated road is proposed from Delhi’s Chilla village and it ends in Noida’s Sector 94. The work on this project got delayed because soon after the work started, the alignment issues cropped up.

“The work on the elevated road got delayed because the alignment of the RRTS project from Delhi to Meerut and the route of another road from Ghazipur to DND Flyway, passing through Chilla, is yet to be finalised. A team from Noida, Delhi public works department (PWD) and the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) conducted a site inspection in Chilla on Monday and sorted out the issues. On Tuesday, consultants from the three agencies met and discussed the alignment of all three projects. We hope that the alignment will be finalised soon and the work will restart,” SC Gupta, senior manager, Noida authority, said.

The work on the road started in January 2019 after the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) gave a conditional approval. “The UTTIPEC gave its approval to 5.5km elevated road only on the condition that the Delhi PWD also approves it. But later, the Delhi PWD proposed a road starting from Delhi’s Ghazipur to DND Flyway. However, the agency is yet to finalise this project. Therefore, we need to build our elevated road in such a manner that it does not affect the RRTS project or PWD’s road. We have discussed the issue with the NCRTC and PWD officials and most points have been finalised. We are likely to get a nod from the Delhi PWD soon and the work will restart,” Gupta said.

Officials said 50% of the total cost of the project will be borne by the Noida authority, while the other 50% will be shouldered by the Uttar Pradesh PWD. A nod from the Delhi PWD was, however, required for the project as it owns the Shahdara drain.

Officials said the flyover will be completed within 42 months from the date of commencement of work, which means that it would be ready for vehicles only by 2021.

The Shahdara drain is owned by the Delhi government, but it passes through Noida sectors 15A, 14A, 14, 15, 16, 16A and 38A. The drain that carries Delhi’s sewage empties into the Yamuna in Noida.