West Delhi corridor

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Tuesday approved two key flyover/elevated corridor projects, to be built at a cumulative cost of ₹724 crore, to decongest arterial roads in east and west Delhi.

Both projects have been cleared by the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Centre (UTTIPEC) and were awaiting the financial nod for work to commence.

The expenditure finance committee chaired by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia gave financial approval for the construction of an elevated corridor between Punjabi Bagh flyover and Raja Garden flyover at a cost of ₹352 crore and a flyover between Anand Vihar overbridge and Apsara Border at a cost of ₹372 crore.

After the meeting, Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said, “Lakhs of commuters will benefit from the construction of these flyovers. These projects will eliminate traffic problems by increasing the capacity of existing roads and make them safer.” He added that since these projects are vital for decongesting traffic, they shall be completed within 18 months.

A senior government official said since both an Interstate Bus Terminus and a railway station are located in Anand Vihar, the area serves as an important transit location for the city. “The road is also the main route from north-east Delhi to Ghaziabad and Noida. Owing to these reasons, the traffic load there has increased significantly and a flyover will make the flow smoother,” the official said, asking not to be named.

The public works department (PWD) will develop a six-lane flyover between Anand Vihar railway overbridge and Apsara border, the official said. Besides easing the traffic flow on the busy stretch by allowing nondestined traffic to bypass the three key intersections of Ramprastha, Vivek Vihar and Raghunath Mandir, the project will also benefit residents of Anand Vihar, Ramprastha Colony, Vivek Vihar, Surajmal Vihar, Yojana Vihar and Shrestha Vihar who currently waste a considerable amount of time navigating through snarls.

A study commissioned by the PWD has shown that 70% of traffic on this corridor is non-destined -- vehicles merely passing through the area -- while only 30% is local. The project intends to provide a six-lane elevated alternative by extending the Anand Vihar railway overbridge, thereby bypassing the three intersections, and keeping local traffic to the ground level.

PWD also plans to provide two ramps before Ramprastha and Vivek Vihar intersections to facilitate local traffic, official associated with the project said. UTTIPEC had approved the project in September 2018.

The second project will come up on the arterial Ring Road between Raja Garden flyover and Punjabi Bagh flyover, a government official said. “...a corridor development between Raja Garden flyover and Punjabi Bagh flyover will help ease the traffic...,” said the official.

The project will involve development of a six-lane elevated corridor from the ESI Hospital to the existing Club Road one-way flyover. “We will expand the Club Road half flyover from two lanes to six lanes while the existing Moti Nagar half flyover will be expanded from two lanes to six lanes, facilitating two-way traffic,” official said.

UTTIPEC had cleared the project in December 2020 and once ready, it is expected to decongest Ring Road and improve its carrying capacity. It will help provide signal-free movement from Dhaula Kuan to Azadpur on the Ring Road.

A second PWD official said the length of the existing flyover at the Club Road intersection will also be increased from 600m to about 1.5km.

NEW DELHI: Water minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday inspected the work of rejuvenation and development of two water bodies in north-west Delhi’s Burari and said they will be developed as “safe open spaces”. The minister said 250 water bodies and 23 lakes are being revived by the government under the ‘city of lakes’ project.

“Burari has significant ecological importance as it is located in the vicinity of Yamuna. The two water bodies in Satya Vihar and Lakshmi Vihar extension colony have been revived using natural methods that make use of natural cost-effective technologies,” the minister said.

The Satya Vihar lake is spread over an area of 13,371sqm. “Earlier the local residents were using this waterbody as a solid waste dumping site and the polluted water from the surrounding drains was falling into the lake. Constructed wetland system treatment plant, which uses certain specific plants that absorb nutrients directly from the sewage or polluted water but do not require soil, has been developed along the waterbody... The treated water is then collected in a tanker and flown into the lake,” an official said.

The Lakshmi Vihar Extension Colony waterbody is spread over an area of 6,500sqm and the DJB is treating it with a ‘floating rafter’ water pollution treatment technology. “The sewage of the locality passed through this water body, making it an unpleasant spot. A pump was initially installed to pump the sewage into the nearby drain but the DJB completely stopped the sewage entry into this lake by stacking gunny bags which will help rejuvenate it,” the official added.

The floating rafter technology employs natural plants to treat pollutants in the water.