Delhi plans to build elevated road over Munak canal, seeks management transfer

Delhi plans a 20-km elevated corridor along Munak Canal to ease Outer Ring Road congestion, costing ₹3,000 crore and expected to take three years.

The Delhi government is planning to construct a 20-kilometre-long elevated corridor along the Munak Canal from Inderlok to Bawana in north-west Delhi to reduce congestion on the Outer Ring Road, officials said on Thursday. Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday held a meeting on the matter with Public Works Department and water minister Pravesh Verma and senior officials of the Haryana government, National Highways Authority of India (NHAAI), PWD and other departments.

The Munak Canal is 102km-long of which 85km are in Haryana and 17km are Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

The detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared and is expected to be completed within the next three months, officials said. The Delhi government has sought a no-objection certificate from the Haryana government to proceed as the entire stretch of canal is managed by the Haryana irrigation department, they added.

"The 20km elevated corridor will be developed by NHAI while PWD will oversee funding, land clearance, and local coordination. The estimated cost of the project is ₹3,000 crore, and construction is expected to take three years from the time work is awarded,” said a government official aware of the matter.

Munak Canal was built between 2003 and 2012 as part of the Western Yamuna Canal system and conveys over 1,000 cusecs of water from the river daily to Delhi via two offshoots — the Carrier Line Channel (CLC) and the Delhi Sub-Branch (DSB). The canal system is 102km-long of which 85km are in Haryana and 17km are Delhi.

The proposed elevated road will connect Urban Extension Road 2 (UER 2) to Delhi’s outer ring road network and ease access to the northern and western parts of the city. The project was also discussed in a high-level meeting in June chaired by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari and attended by Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta.

The Munak canal suffers from poor management, leaks and breaches and waste is regularly dumped into it and along its banks. “The canal flows in the open in Delhi and there is no effective arrangement for the safety of the canal and water. In the area under Delhi, this canal is also unpaved at many places, due to which its water keeps getting polluted,” chief minister Gupta said.

She added that her government wants to maintain the canal. “The canal will be strengthened further so that there is no problem in its water flow. The government wants to maintain the areas around the canal better, so that religious and cultural events can also be held there. We want to ensure that there is uniformity in the depth of the canal,” she said.

The Delhi government in a statement said that Gupta has told the Haryana government that if it faces any problem in maintaining the canal, Delhi is ready to take responsibility for it. “If the canal comes under the Delhi government, then the proposal to build an elevated corridor over it can be completed quickly and effectively,” she added

On July 6, water minister Parvesh Verma had announced that the Delhi government was exploring a plan to cover the Munak canal with solar panels.