60 of 79 New Delhi avenue roads to be repaired post-monsoon

NDMC plans to recarpet 60 of 79 roads in Lutyens’ Delhi post-monsoon, with a ₹92 crore project set to start in October and finish by March 2026.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is finalising plans to recarpet and repair key avenue roads in Lutyens’ Delhi as part of its post-monsoon plans, after an assessment by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) found deficiencies in 60 of 79 roads, officials familiar with the matter said.

Connaught Place Outer Circle roads are also part of the revamp. (HT Archive)

The project is expected to cost ₹92 crore and has been set a deadline of next March, they said.

“Right now, the work award is in its final stages and the work will tentatively start after monsoon, in October. The deadline for completion of the project is March 31, 2026. We have six divisions of roads in New Delhi and the work will be taken up one by one so that commuters do not face any inconvenience,” NDMC vice-chairman Kuljeet Chahal said.

NDMC officials said that third party checks and supervisions will be carried out by CRRI to ensure quality of work.

The survey of roads was done in January and February, following which the CRRI, in its report, recommended milling, overlay and repair work in case of at least 60 of 79 roads. These include the Outer Circle of Connaught Place, Sansad Marg, Janpath, KG Marg, and Lodhi Estate, among others.

A senior NDMC official said that CRRI also suggested slope correction to prevent waterlogging, and milling of roads ranging from 40-50mm surface removal to up to 150-160mm milling in case of heavily damaged road surface.

NDMC oversees 1,298 kilometres of roads and 52 rotaries. In September 2024, NDMC had signed a ₹4-crore agreement with CRRI for study and improvement of road infrastructure and under the agreement, the CRRI is helping the civic body in structural evaluation of its roads, supervision of the construction quality and help in training of engineers and staff members linked with road maintenance and engineering, officials said.

According to the CRRI report, a copy of which was accessed by HT, eight roads were surveyed under the Connaught Place division and all of them were found wanting repairs. The Panchkuiyan Road Extension was found to be the worst, having longitudinal cracks with settlement in the inner lane. At Sansad Marg, a stretch was found distressed near Connaught Place and cracking was observed on Janpath.

In the case of Outer Circle, CRRI found cracks at approaches and muddle lanes. KG Marg was found to have a “hungry surface” with micro cracks.Hungry surface refers to a condition with loss of aggregates from the surface or the appearance of fine cracks.

According to divisions, only four (Pandara Road, Purana Quila Road, Jai Singh Road and Bhagwan Das Road) of 18 roads were found wanting no intervention. The Janpath stretch from Connaught Place to RP Road was found to be heavily cracked, with slight depressions. “Dr RP Road is heavily distressed due to NBCC construction. Concrete deposits were also found and drainage needs to be improved,” the report states.

In the R2 division, the Golf Link Colony Road was found to be “heavily ravelled” due to weathering with potholes and undulated surfaces. The CRRI also recommended that road levels be reduced at Golf Links due to drainage issues.

In R4 division, maximum damage was found at Bordoloi Road. In case of Sardar Patel Marg, which acts as the entry road from Dhaula Kuan, patching and longitudinal cracks were found on both sides and 50-60mm milling has been recommended.

Under the R5 division, three out of four roads were found to be in need of rehabilitation. These were Mandir Marg, Kali Bari Marg and Pandit Pant Marg; only Talkatora Road was in good condition.