Key NDMC roads set to get ₹83.9 crore facelift by 2026

The project will be undertaken in consultation with the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and five separate tenders have been issued.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is planning a ₹83.9 crore-revamp of key arterial roads in Lutyens’ Delhi, including the Connaught Place circles, Janpath, Sansad Marg, KG Marg, among others.

Officials said the tentative deadline for completion of the project is March 31, 2026. (HT Photo)

The project will be undertaken in consultation with the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and five separate tenders have been issued for recarpeting of five of its six road divisions in different packages — Connaught Place, R1, R2, R4 and R5 divisions. NDMC officials said the bids will likely be finalised early next month.

“Bids for remaining roads will be issued soon and the overall project estimate cost will be around ₹92 crore,” an official said. New Delhi roads are divided under six divisions.

Officials said the tentative deadline for completion of the project is March 31, 2026. However, it may depend on restrictions related to Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) in the upcoming months.

A senior civic official said the road assessment of the major 79 revenue roads was carried out by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) in January and February this year, based on which the road redevelopment plan for entire New Delhi has been formulated.

NDMC officials said third party checks and supervisions will be carried out by CRRI to ensure quality of work. The survey of these 79 roads points at issues such as cracking, distresses, and weathering.

The CRRI report, a copy of which has been seen by HT, has recommended milling, overlay and repair work in case of at least 60 of these roads,such as the outer circle of Connaught Place, Sansad Marg, Janpath, KG Marg, Lodhi estate, and others. NDMC oversees a 1,298km-long road network and 52 rotaries in the Capital.

Civic officials said one road division at a time will be picked up for recarpeting, so traffic disruption can be minimised. The recarpeting of Connaught Place will cost ₹8.74 crore, R-1 division ₹23.39 crore, R-2 ₹23.12 crore, R-4 division ₹24.86 crore, and R-5 division will cost ₹24.86 crore.

“Depending on the scale of work, the completion time will vary from four months to a year,” an official said.

In September last year, NDMC had signed a ₹4 crore agreement with CRRI for the study and improvement of road infrastructure in the New Delhi area. Under the agreement, the CRRI is helping the civic body in structural evaluation of its roads, supervising the construction quality, and helping in training of engineers and staff members linked with road maintenance and engineering divisions, officials said.

According to the CRRI report, eight roads were surveyed under the Connaught Place division, all of which have been found in need of rehabilitation. The poorest condition was found at Panchkuian Road extension which was found to have longitudinal cracks with settlement in the inner lane. At Sansad Marg, the road was found to be distressed near CP and cracking was observed on Janpath, the report said.

In the case of the outer circle, CRRI found cracks at approaches and muddle lanes. The 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.

In case of R1 division of NDMC, 18 roads were assessed and only four (Pandara road, Purana Quila road, Jai Singh Road and Bhagwan Das road) were found to be in need of no intervention. Janpath Road from CP to Dr RP Road was found to be heavily cracked with slight depressions. “Dr RP Road is heavily distressed due to NBCC construction work. Concrete deposits were also found and drainage needs to be improved,” the report mentioned.

Similarly, the R2 division roads were found in a dilapidated condition such as the Golf Link colony road is “heavily raveled” due to weathering with potholes and undulated surface. The CRRI has also recommended that the road level has to be reduced at Golf links due to drainage issues.

In the R4 division, maximum damage was found at Bordoloi Road while the 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 including Mandir Marg, Kali Bari Marg and Pandit Pant Marg with only Talkatora road in good condition.