Work on 14.7km corridor to decongest NE Delhi kicks off

According to NHAI officials, the six-lane segment in Delhi, being built at a cost of ₹1,100 crore, will be completed by December 2024.

Around three-and-a-half years after Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for a 14.7km corridor in trans-Yamuna areas, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started the construction of the project, which will be a part of the National Highway 709B (NH-709B) between Akshardham (Delhi) and Saharanpur Bypass (Uttar Pradesh), officials of the highways authority have confirmed.

HT File Image

According to the National Highways Authority of India officials, the 14.7km six-lane segment in Delhi, being built at a cost of ₹1,100 crore, will be completed by December 2024.

Arvind Kumar, project director, National Highways Authority of India, said, “We started the construction work in the end of June. We are currently doing the piling work for a road overbridge near Akshardham temple, above the railway line.”

The corridor will start from Akshardham flyover and will pass through some of the most densely populated areas in east and north-east Delhi such as Geeta Colony, Shastri Park, Khajuri Khas, and Karawal Nagar, among others.

The six-lane access-controlled corridor in Delhi is part of the 155km national highway connecting Akshardham to Saharanpur Bypass in Uttar Pradesh, the National Highways Authority of India said.

Of the 14.7km stretch in Delhi, 6.78km will be elevated — from Geeta Colony to CRPF camp in Wazirabad.

Three underpasses for light vehicles will be constructed along the corridor to ensure the smooth movement of traffic through these extremely congested neighbourhoods. Ramps will be constructed on both sides of the corridor for traffic coming from ISBT Kashmere Gate via Signature Bridge and north-east Delhi to get on the elevated corridor, the highways authority said.

From Akshardham flyover to Geeta Colony, the existing road (Pushta Road/Geeta Colony Road) will be used. The National Highways Authority of India will construct an underpass near Ramesh Park traffic intersection and a road overbridge at Akshardham, over the railway tracks, to make the corridor signal free. The other two underpasses for light vehicles will be constructed at the traffic intersection in Biharipur (near Delhi Traffic Police Training Centre) and Karawal Nagar, the National Highways Authority of India said.

National Highways Authority of India officials said while piling work is on at Akshardham, the work to widen roads in some stretches — to divert traffic — is also being planned.

Kumar said, “The corridor in Delhi will pass through extremely congested areas and hence a six-lane elevated structure has been proposed. To ensure that there is no traffic congestion due to the construction work, we have planned to widen the existing four-lane stretches. Near Geeta Colony, the road is six-lane so we plan to close one lane on each side (in the centre) for the piling work while regular traffic will continue along the four outermost lanes of both carriageways.”

Sewa Ram, transport expert and professor of transport planning, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, said the corridor is crucial for decongesting north-east Delhi. “For traffic going towards Baghpat, Pushta Road is a crucial link. Though the road was widened a few years ago, it continues to be congested as it passes through densely populated neighbourhoods. Once constructed, the corridor will ease traffic flow , as all Uttar Pradesh bound traffic can take the elevated corridor and local traffic can move at the surface level.”

The project, which was announced ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, is one of the many road infrastructure projects sanctioned by the Centre to decongest the national capital.

But it has since been marred by delays. Months after the foundation laying ceremony, the road transport and highways ministry asked National Highways Authority of India 9to reassess the financial viability of the project and to explore options for bringing down the cost.

The direction came as the ministry was focusing on prioritising highway projects after evaluating them financially. After getting the necessary financial approval, the National Highways Authority of India invited bids and awarded the work in February 2021 but it took a lot of time to get land for compensatory afforestation and the subsequent environment clearance.

“Now that the work has started, we will complete it within 30 months,” said a senior National Highways Authority of India official, asking not to be named.