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Speed up work at Chandni chowk: Gadkari
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday visited Chandni chowk and instructed officials to speed-up demolition of the old bridge
Pune: Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday visited Chandni chowk to review the ongoing work after which he held a review meeting with various government authorities and instructed to speed-up demolition of the old bridge as well as construction of the new, multi-storeyed flyover bridge at Chandni chowk.
“It is necessary to demolish the existing old bridge at the chowk to permanently solve the congestion issue at this chowk after which it would be a six-lane road for smooth traffic movement. Also, the work of the connecting service road will be carried out fast and I have instructed the concerned officials accordingly. Also, I have instructed that a committee be formed of senior officials to discuss and solve the land acquisition-related issues at Chandni chowk,” Gadkari said after the review meeting held at J W Marriott hotel.
The review meeting was also attended by state cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil, MLA Madhuri Misal, Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao, and officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Pune district administration. “While along with the traditional ways to demolish the structure, we should explore new technologies in the construction sector and for that, the team from Noida was called here to study the Chandni chowk old bridge demolition work. We have planned to complete the work of the new flyover bridge by June 2023 and till then, necessary measures will be taken for smooth traffic movement,” Gadkari said.
The minister further said, “For a permanent solution to Chandni chowk’s traffic issues, a circular traffic movement road is needed and for that, a budget of Rs1,300 crore is expected. Already, work on some of the roads has been carried out by the central government and we are in talks with the state government for getting the funds. One of the major obstacles in this process is the land acquisition part as some of the parties have gone to court and we hope to find a solution to this issue as early as possible.”
