New spur at Delhi’s Bhairon Marg underpass to bring relief

The Public Works Department (PWD) is set to open a two-lane section of the Bhairon Marg underpass next week, providing relief to commuters and reducing traffic on the Ring Road in Delhi. The underpass was part of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Corridor project and has faced multiple delays and challenges. The second segment of the underpass is expected to take longer to complete due to damage caused by floods in 2023. The Delhi government did not respond to queries about the project's delays.

The Public Works Department (PWD) is giving the finishing touches to a two-lane section of the Bhairon Marg underpass, which will open for vehicles next week, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

PWD workers give finishing touches to the underpass, ahead of its opening next week. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

At present, vehicles travelling from Pragati Maidan towards Sarai Kale Khan must turn left at the Ring Road junction towards the Indraprastha Metro station, and then take a U-turn back towards Sarai Kale Khan — a detour of more than 1km. Once the new spur of the underpass opens, vehicles will directly move towards Sarai Kale Khan, and the U-turn on Ring Road will soon be shut.

On Wednesday, PWD workers were seen painting murals on tunnels walls and wrapping up electrical works.

“We are trying to complete the remaining minor finishing work and the tunnel is being cleaned. It will be ready for vehicular movement in the next three days, but a final date for inauguration has not been finalised yet. We hope to make the traffic running in the next one week. It will ease the pressure on the Ring Road and facilitate movement towards Noida, Ghaziabad and reduce load near IP estate,” a PWD official said.

Dr S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of traffic engineering division of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said that even the partial opening of the Bhairon Marg underpass will provide massive relief to commuters. “It will resolve the congestion node at the U-turn on the Ring Road. The load of Ghaziabad/Noida-bound traffic will reduce on the IP Estate section of the Ring Road. The traffic turning right on this road is very heavy and the Ghaziabad-bound traffic will now have signal-free access right to the doorstep,” he said.

The Bhairon Marg underpass — or underpass No 5 — is the final piece of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Corridor project. The underpass comprises two separate parallel tunnel sections: a two-lane segment and a three-lane segment.

The Pragati Maidan complex and its integrated transit corridor were developed along with Bharat Mandapam ahead of G20 summit, and the main 1.3km tunnel and five underpasses in its vicinity were launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June last year.

Underpass No 5 was initially scheduled to be inaugurated in December 2022, and has seen multiple delays, engineering challenges and was damaged during the July 2023 floods.

The second segment of this underpass — for traffic coming from the Indraprastha Metro station side towards Mathura Road — will take much longer to complete, officials confirmed.

“We are seeking help from IIT-Delhi to help repair the alignment of concrete boxes damaged during the floods,” the official quoted above said.

HT reached out to the Delhi government, which did not respond to queries seeking comment on the delays to the project.