Road to cut traffic jams between E Delhi, Noida

The elevated road will also save 600 trees which will have to be cut if we widen the Delhinoida Link road to remove congestion on the stretch. SANDEEP CHANDRA, chief engineer, Noida authority

NOIDA: The Noida authority on Thursday approved a proposal to build an elevated road over Shahdara drain, providing seamless connectivity to motorists between east Delhi’s Chilla area in Mayur Vihar and Noida expressway.

The 5.5-km-road is expected to remove traffic bottlenecks on the two-kilometre stretch which passes through Noida sectors 14A, 15A and 16A between Mayur Vihar-i and Noida expressway.

Since the drain is owned by the Delhi government, the authority will have to seek approval before undertaking construction.

“The elevated road will also save nearly 600 trees, which had to be cut if we would have widened the Delhi-noida Link Road. We will request the Delhi government’s irrigation and flood control department to give us permission for this project, which will decongest DelhiNoida Link Road and benefit motorists,” said Sandeep Chandra, chief engineer of the Noida authority.

The Noida authority had earlier proposed the elevated road over the drain in 2012 and had got a detailed project report prepared but, the project did not take off as the Delhi government did not give permission.

Shahdara drain passes through Noida sectors 15A, 14A, 14, 15, 16, 16A and 38A.

Earlier, a traffic committee headed by the Noida authority’s chief executive officer (CEO) Alok Tandon had suggested to the UP government that an elevated road above the Shahdara drain can help in reducing congestion.

FUNDS FOR PROJECT

In a boost to the project, the UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd has proposed to build the road and offered 50% funds. Officials said rest of the cost will be borne by the Noida authority.

“The authority officials said the corporation can apply when there is a call for tenders but, the UP Bridge Corporation wants to take up this project without a tender, as it is a government agency. Therefore, the PWD has written a letter to them, saying that if the project is to given to the bridge corporation without tenders, it will pay 50% of the cost,” said Chandra.

The elevated road is expected to cost ₹650 crore.