17 road stretches in Delhi to get a facelift

PWD officials had recently thoroughly inspected these roads recently to assess their requirements.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday gave his approval to projects worth ₹13.58 crore for the beautification and strengthening of 17 roads in Tilak Nagar, Vikaspuri and Janakpuri. A total road length of 12.83 kilometres will be covered under this project, officials in the know said.

File photo of repair work underway at a flyover in Tilak Nagar, New Delhi. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

“Public Works Department (PWD) has expedited the work of road strengthening and beautification across the city. The department is using modern technologies and global standards of street design to give a new look to city roads. Along with road strengthening and maintenance, the department is specially focussing on beautifying prominent city roads to provide commuters with a pleasant experience,” Sisodia said.

PWD officials had recently thoroughly inspected these roads recently to assess their requirements. After the inspection, the projects were prepared for the approval of the government. As part of this project, PWD is also emphasising on road markings, plantations etc, officials said.

“During the inspection of these areas, we found that residents had to face a lot of inconvenience due to old dilapidated roads. Taking cognizance of the situation, a new road maintenance project is being started in these areas to avoid any inconvenience to the public. This will improve the interconnectivity in the area and will save the time of commuters,” he said.

In November 2019, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal approved the redesign of the 16 PWD roads as part of a pilot project which, if successful, would be replicated on 540 kilometres of Delhi roads.

The roads where redesigning is going on include stretches along Ring Road from Mayapuri to Moti Bagh; Ring Road from AIIMS to Ashram; Vikas Marg-Laxmi Nagar Chungi to Karkari More; Narwana Road-Mother Dairy to Punch Mahal Niwas; Britannia Chowk to Outer Ring Road West Enclave, Pitampura; Wazirpur Depot Crossing (NSP) to Rithala Metro Station; Shivdaspuri Marg and Patel Road (from Moti Nagar T-Point to Pusa Road roundabout).

Earlier this month, Kejriwal has set an October deadline for the beautification and redesigning of 16 roads across the city where work is underway to bring them on par with “European standards”.

The redesigned roads will have cycle lanes, footpaths for the differently abled, open spaces, green belts, and free of bottlenecks and unpaved spaces so that the roads are dust free and the commute is smooth.

“Road beautification pilot project is going on in full swing on all 16 stretches, and the work will be completed by September-October. After completion of the pilot project, the best model will be chosen and applied to the 500km (of roads) across Delhi to redesign them on par with European standards. Delhi boasts of very wide roads but they don’t meet international standards of quality. Hence, the Delhi government is doing its best to overcome the various challenges and deliver splendid roads,” Kejriwal had said after an inspection.

According to a statement issued by the government after the inspection, Kejriwal expressed his dissatisfaction with the quality of plants along the roadside and on the central verge, noting that the “saplings planted on the central verge are quite small and are located far apart”. He suggested planting trees in the same way that “dense plants are planted along European roads and on the central verge”.

The statement further said Sisodia suggested having murals painted on the walls.

“Along the road, statues of freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh and Rani Lakshmibai have been constructed to instil a strong feeling of nationalism in people. Two fountains, artwork on the foot-overbridge, a sandstone bench, a Buddha statue, a state-of-the-art info board, steel elements, and sandstone art work have also been completed. On one side of the road, a path for bikes and a footpath have been constructed,” the official said.