Construction of underpass on Benito Juarez Marg gets a push

THE CONSTRUCTION WORK HAD BEEN MOVING AT SNAIL’S PACE BECAUSE OF THE NEED TO SHIFT 220 KV TRACTION LINES OF THE INDIAN RAILWAYS

NEW DELHI: The construction on the much-delayed underpass linking Benito Juarez Road and San Martin Road in south Delhi has started gaining momentum.

The three-lane underpass, near Venkteshwara College, is being constructed by the Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD).

The construction work of the underpass had been moving at snail’s pace for over last two years because of the need to shift 220 KV traction lines of the Indian Railways falling in the middle of a 300-metre stretch of the proposed underpass on San Martin Road. According to PWD officials, the Indian Railways has now begun work to shift its power utilities — a major hurdle in the project.

“Last month, railways started shifting its power cables falling in the course of our underpass on San Martin Road. They have promised to finish the work by December end. We can finally see progress on the project,” a senior PWD official said.

The construction of the underpass had begun in November 2014 and was to be completed in two years. The project was progressing slowly, having missed four deadlines so far. Till date, only 27% of work has been completed.

The 1.3-km-long dual access one-way underpass will start near Springdales School on Benito Juarez Road and will go underneath the South Campus Metro Station on the Ring Road. One arm of the underpass will go towards San Martin Road, while another will open on the Ring Road towards Moti Bagh.

The underpass is a part of redevelopment of Rao Tula Ram (RTR) Marg stretch, which also comprises the construction of a 2.7-km-long flyover, parallel to the RTR flyover.

Once completed, the underpass will ease the traffic coming from the airport and also decongest Outer Ring Road, Dhaula Kuan, RTR Marg and Sardar Patel Marg.

“It will reduce travel time from the airport to central Delhi and to AIIMS by around 20 minutes and 15 minutes respectively. After railways finishes its work, it will take around 10 more months to construct the underpass due to complex nature of the construction beneath the Ring Road,” said another PWD official, who is associated with the project.

The PWD had first asked the railways to shift its power cables in May 2015 and have sent repeated reminders. In November 2017, the PWD had paid an amount of Rs 2.86 crore to the railways for shifting of power cables.

The railways refused to offer a comment.