Outer Ring Road’s Mukarba Chowk underpass delayed
According to the project’s progress report for the month of March, land acquisition from the Irrigation and Flood Control department has delayed the work further
The deadline to finish an underpass that was aimed at decongesting the busy Mukarba Chowk on the Outer Ring Road-GT Karnal Road intersection has been pushed back by six months, senior PWD officials said on Thursday. The project that was to be completed by June this year, will now be finished by December, the officials said.
According to the project’s progress report for the month of March, land acquisition from the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) department has delayed the work further even as the shifting of the gas pipelines has been completed and high-tension wire was being done. “The payment to the power distribution company has been made in December. Acquisition of land from Irrigation and Flood Control department is to be expedited,” the report said, a copy of which HT has seen.
The Mukarba chowk underpass is being built near Gate number 3 of Haiderpur-Badli Metro station to facilitate pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles. It is nine metres wide — five metres for non-motorised vehicles and four metres for the pedestrians. Currently, vehicles from Badli towards Shalimar Bagh on Outer Ring Road have to use a loop on the main Mukarba Chowk. With the new underpass, the vehicular load on the main intersection will be reduced.
The project was expected to be completed in a year after its foundation stone was laid down by the then-PWD minister Manish Sisodia on September 27, 2022. The deadline was later pushed to June 2024. On July 7, lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena had approved the transfer of 1.2-acre land from the I&FC department to PWD, after a delay of 11 months. The revised deadline now stands at December 2024.
A PWD official quoted above said, “A large number of underground power lines and natural gas lines were passing along the alignment of the underpass. The gas lines were shifted by IGL last year on November 28, and the payment for the shifting of power lines has been made to the power company on December 22, and it is expected to be completed soon. We are now trying to expedite the documentation for the land acquisition.”
HT reached out to Delhi government spokesperson, who did not comment on the further delay in the project.
Mohit Aggarwal, 36, a resident of Shalimar Bagh said that the area is a mess due to heavy traffic jams at Mukarba Chowk. “The whole intersection is a mess. During evening, the traffic jams on GT Karnal road extend up to Swaroop Nagar,” he added.
Ashutosh Rana, a commuter who regularly moves between Pitampura and Kashmiri Gate, said, “Due to the two construction projects, the traffic goes into a tailspin. If the underpass was ready, hours of travelling time could have been saved every day.”