Delhi govt to revamp Pusa Road-Patel Road junction in Karol Bagh

The work will cover four traffic islands and mini-parks, along with the Pusa roundabout, which are collectively referred to as Ch Brahm Prakash Chowk

New Delhi

A view of the Pusa Chowk earlier this year. (HT Archive)

The Delhi government will redevelop and redesign the Pusa Road-Patel Road junction and its traffic islands under a project to beautify and restore the public spaces in Karol Bagh, senior government officials said. A key gateway connecting New Delhi with central Delhi, the traffic junction facilitates traffic moving from arterial roads, such as Pusa Road, Shankar Road, Patel Road and Dr KS Krishnan Marg.

The work will cover four traffic islands and mini-parks, along with the Pusa roundabout, which are collectively referred to as Ch Brahm Prakash Chowk, named after the first chief minister of Delhi. The unkempt and poorly maintained roundabout currently faces issues of poor sanitation, damaged greenery, defacement and rat infestation.

An official with the Public Works Department (PWD) said they will spend around ₹2 crore to upgrade and beautify the traffic islands covering the roundabout, Pusa Harit Kranti Park, Mandir park and Chetan Das Park. Electrical fixtures, fountains, horticulture work and decorative lights will be installed, officials said, adding that the tenders for the project have been called and it will be completed in the next four months.

“The space was previously known as the Pusa Chowk. The roundabout will be developed into a park, with a walking track, grass, and ornamental plants. The space will be redesigned from scratch, after removing existing fixtures and adding a new soil layer ,” the official said.

The greening plan comprises the plantation of 4,450 Singapore daisies, along with lilies, Plumeria alba, Ficus retusa and white champa. “We will also deploy private gardeners to ensure the upkeep of the green zones,” the official said.

The PWD will spend approximately ₹1 crore on civil works, ₹15 lakh on horticultural work, and ₹74 lakh on electrical works, including decorative illumination and floodlights.

The Delhi government has recently inaugurated a similarly redeveloped space at the Punjabi Bagh junction in west Delhi, which was also renamed after former Delhi CM, the late Madan Lal Khurana.

The agency manages around 1,400 kilometres of arterial road network in the capital. Last month, PWD issued a new standard operating procedure (SOP) to maintain greenery in its road network in the city. Its horticulture wing faces an “acute manpower shortage” due to which private agencies will be hired to manage arterial roads at a zonal level, while the maintenance department engineers have also been engaged with the horticulture wing.

With the department moving towards deploying private agencies for the maintenance, standards for watering, plantations and maintenance have also been fixed under contract terms.”A minimum number of one gardener per 2,500 square metres of green area will be required to be deployed; all workers should wear proper uniforms approved by the engineer in charge; otherwise, a penalty of ₹50 per worker per day will be imposed on the service provider,” the order said.