FOB for Rajputana Rifles to come up near Delhi Cantt metro station

PWD officials visited Dhaula Kuan to finalize a foot overbridge location for soldiers, avoiding tree felling, but lacking ramps or lifts.

Officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) on Thursday conducted a site visit to decide the location for the foot overbridge (FOB) to be built near the Rajputana Rifles headquarters in Dhaula Kuan.

PWD officials inspect a site near Delhi Cantt station for the FOB. (HT Photo)

Officials said that the FOB will likely be constructed between Delhi Metro’s pillar numbers 64 and 65 of the Delhi Cantonment stationand it will not require any tree felling permission.

The FOB, however, will not have any lift, escalator, or ramp, as stated earlier, the officials said.

“The space between pillar number 64 and 65 seems ideal for the FOB as it will not need cutting of trees and basic pruning will do. There is, however, no space for a ramp at the spot and including that in the design may not be possible,” said the official.

On Wednesday, the subway committee of PWD gave its in-principle approval to the construction of the long-pending FOB following a May 26 Hindustan Times report.

HT highlighted how thousands of soldiers of Rajputana Rifles, the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army, located in Delhi Cantonment, negotiate a smelly culvert that overflows during rains on their way to the parade ground due to the absence of a safe crossing. They do this four times a day – twice before breakfast and twice after dusk even as the Delhi government has failed to build a foot overbridge.

However, it is yet to be decided which agency will bear the cost of the FOB’s construction, as PWD has asked the army to arrange funds for the same. PWD has estimated that a basic FOB will cost around ₹2.59 crore, and an additional ₹1 crore will be needed if a lift is added to the design.

Officials said that a report regarding the site inspection will be submitted soon, and a final design will be prepared after financial approval is received.

The FOB is crucial, especially with the monsoon coming, as the situation worsens during rains as the culvert fills up with rainwater runoff and the trainees of the Rajputana Rifles regiment have to either wade through waist deep drain water or walk along the road for over 2.5 kilometres to cross the road from one side of the carriageway to the other.

HT also found that the FOB was approved earlier as well in 2010 but could not be constructed despite the approval being granted 15 years ago. The project was eventually scrapped until the demand was raised again recently.