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PWD floats tender for streetscaping of Mandela Marg in Delhi
The agency will spend Rs4.18 crore on beautification of Nelson Mandela Marg and its central feature will be a Mahatma Gandhi statue on a 10-foot tall pedestal
The public works department (PWD) is set to restart the process for installation of a 50-foot high statue of Mahatma Gandhi under the streetscaping project for Nelson Mandela Marg near Vasant Kunj in south Delhi.
The infrastructure agency has once again floated the tenders for beautification of the arterial stretch under the government’s ambitious project of road beautification.
According to the bids invited by the agency on Saturday, the agency will spend ₹4.18 crore on the beautification of Nelson Mandela Marg stretch and its central feature will be the giant Mahatma Gandhi statue standing on a 10-foot tall pedestal. The overall construction project is likely to be completed in 60 days, officials associated with the project said. The statue of the Mahatma will be made using fibre reinforced plastic which will be a 40-foot structure and is likely to cost ₹30 lakh.
A PWD official said that under the ₹4.18 crore project, several remaining components have been clubbed together which includes installation of statues, addition of staircases to provide access to the central verge area on the road from the foot overbridge, walkways in lawns and development of a butterfly zone. The streetscaping project was initiated around a year back.
“Under the remaining part of the beautification, we will also be developing a small sewage treatment plant to ensure regular irrigation of the green area and butterfly zones,” the official said.
PWD had cancelled the contract of the previous firm that was tasked with the development of the giant statue. The PWD official said that there were apprehensions related to the structural stability of the statue as fibre material is light in weight. In the installation, a 40-foot high fibre statue depicting Mahatma Gandhi undertaking the Dandi March is expected to be installed.
“Under the new tender conditions, we have mandated that the statue will weigh at least 1,000kg to ensure its stability and the firm will have to get its stability certified from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. The firm will be held responsible if the statue is damaged during squalls or gusty winds,” official stated.
The Nelson Mandela Marg runs along the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) near Vasant Kunj and Vasant Vihar and a 1,000-metre long stretch is being developed by the agency on this arterial road. Earlier in February, the PWD had stated that it was facing technical problems in the development of the giant statue. PWD had directed the private agency to develop the giant statue in three parts which could be later joined with the overall project which required re-designing.
Under the much-delayed streetscaping project, the PWD is working on improving small stretches on 16 roads in the pilot phase. After completion of the project on these roads, streetscaping of 1,400km stretch is expected to be taken up by the PWD. While each of these pilot stretches has unique elements, some of the common features include development of green areas around the road, open sitting areas, cycling tracks, “designer LED lights”, public utility centres and fountains with sandstone artworks, a PWD official explained.
