Conceived 3 decades ago, half of Delhi’s Kishanganj underpass opens to traffic

Three decades after it was conceived and almost 14 years after construction started, Kishanganj railway underbridge (RUB) is now “half” open to traffic, with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday inaugurating the second of four underpass sections

Three decades after it was conceived and almost 14 years after construction started, Kishanganj railway underbridge (RUB) is now “half” open to traffic, with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday inaugurating the second of four underpass sections.

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MCD special officer Ashwani Kumar and commissioner Gyanesh Bharti inaugurated the second box constructed at a cost of ₹74 crore. The corporation is developing four boxes as part of a project to connect central and west Delhi and the first box was opened in December 2018. While the first box took 10 years to open, the second one took another 43 months, making the underpass one of the most delayed infrastructure projects in the city.

Bharti said the construction work on the remaining two boxes is on in full swing and these too will be dedicated to the citizens soon. “Once the other two boxes are completed, the traffic flow from New Delhi railway station to Inderlok and Gulabi Bagh, Sadar Bazar, Old Rohtak Road will become much smoother and citizens will not have to face jams,” he said.

Similar to the Rani Jhansi flyover near St Stephen’s Hospital, which took almost 10 years to build and was opened in 2018, the Kishanganj project too has witnessed several delays and changes.

The administrative approval for the construction of the underpass comprising of four boxes was granted by the erstwhile MCD in November 1992, and a final clearance came in 1998. But the construction work started only on June 20, 2008. At that time, the civic body had said the structure will be opened to traffic before the 2010 Commonwealth Games. But even 12 years after that, only two of the four sections have been opened to traffic.

Civic officials said attempts are being made to open the third box before Independence Day (August 15) while the fourth section is unlikely to be ready anytime soon, owing to encroachments that have cropped up on the approach road.

MCD said of the total cost, around ₹57 crore has been given to the Railways for the construction of four boxes.

Former north corporation mayor Jai Prakash, who participated in the opening ceremony, said half of the approach road for the third box is ready and the box will be opened to traffic before August 15. For the time being, only traffic from Shastri Nagar side towards ISBT will be allowed. “Two way movement will be allowed after the opening of the third box,” he said.

Meanwhile, an MCD official confirmed that the first box, which was opened in 2018, requires maintenance work which can only start once the third box is opened. Once the entire project is complete, commuters moving from areas such as Rohini, Shalimar Bagh, and Pitampura will be able to take the underpass instead of the Outer Ring Road (GT Karnal intersection) route to reach ISBT, and central and east Delhi.

Once ready, it is also expected to decongest Sadar Bazar, Rohtak Road, Gulabi Bagh areas of the Walled City Extension and Azad Market areas.

But the fourth box is unlikely to be opened anytime soon. “There are some houses and other structures located on the approach road o the fourth underpass box. They are situated on railway land and the matter was taken to the court by the house owners,” a senior municipal official said, asking not to be named.

Another official said the MCD faced several challenges in taking up work on the project, primarily related to shifting of shops, religious structures and utilities. “We had to relocate a large number of shops to different locations,” the second official said.

Several of the city’s railway overbridge/underbridge projects in places such as Kirari, Ghevra, Sultanpuri, Narela and Mandi are facing similar delays and cost overruns. For example, the Sultanpuri railway overbridge/underbridge project -- after facing several delays and after the contractor abandoned the project, 180MT steel bars had to be auctioned away.