E-Paper
IMC looks to IIT-Delhi experts for solution
THE ATTEMPT to evolve a consensual solution to the vexatious Palasia grade separator issue was doomed the minute Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan, the sole local leader capable of forcing the issue, opted to stay away.
THE ATTEMPT to evolve a consensual solution to the vexatious Palasia grade separator issue was doomed the minute Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan, the sole local leader capable of forcing the issue, opted to stay away.
No surprise then that the meeting ended without a clear mandate either for the original four-armed design with a price tag of Rs 19 crore or the Rs 24.77 crore three-armed version favoured by Mayor Dr Uma Shashi and Mumbai-based consultants M/s Srikhande Pvt Ltd.
After a two-hour-long dialogue during which much heat, but little light, was shed on the project, the Mayor announced that the Corporation would rope in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, to bring an end to the standoff.
“Both the alternatives will be forwarded to a team of specialists from IIT and we will go ahead with whichever they endorse,” asserted Dr Sharma.
IMC Chairman Shankar Lalwani, who, incidentally wants to dump the separator in favour of a simple flyover from Industry House to DIG Bungalow, Municipal Commissioner Vinod Sharma, SDM and in-charge of the City Bus Service Chandramauli Shukla, MiC member in-charge of Public Works Lalit Porwal as well as renowned architects and engineers attended the meeting convened at Shrimaya Celebrity Hotel.
The proceedings began with a slide show by consultant P Srikhande during which he declared that the original four-armed separator version was not feasible, as it called for converting the stretch along AB Road as well as the Saket and MG Road arms into one-way.
‘‘This will greatly hinder traffic movement”. Srikhande, instead, called for building a four-lane flyover from MGM Medical College to Industry House with six lanes at the Palasia crossing to allow easy movement to traffic merging in from MG Road.
This, though, was opposed by a section of residents who declared that lopping off the Saket arm would deprive Khajrana and Saket residents of the separator’s benefits. “These are the two areas that will be the locus of the City’s growth during the coming years and they cannot be ignored,” asserted architect Atul Seth.
Others objected to the fact that the separator was at odds with the 2021 master plan draft that called for a flyover to be built at Palasia while still more felt that a deeper study of origin-destination traffic movement was required before a final decision.
