18 yrs on, Kalindi bypass a ‘work in progress’

NEW DELHI: The construction of two projects — the Delhi Metro and a bypass road at Kalindi Kunj to connect Delhi, Noida and Faridabad — were announced at around the same time. It was the year 2000.

Since then, the Delhi Metro has built a 277km network across the National Capital Region, and two major road projects have been completed around Kalindi Kunj. But not a brick has been laid at the proposed 13.7km road — even as traffic has multiplied in parts of south Delhi that serve as a thoroughfare for traffic which should have bypassed it years ago.

The Public Works Department (PWD), which is overseeing the project, said it was to begin work two years after the conception of the project, but could not because of the flawed alignment of the proposed road. Initially, the bypass road was to cross from near the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, but this would have disturbed the ecology of the green belt. The portion that was supposed to have crossed from near the sanctuary was realigned as an elevated corridor, going above the Agra canal.

In 2003, the department started work by digging and taking measurements, but whatever little digging was started, stopped in 2007.

“Four years, were wasted in digging and measuring the road. Midway, the alignment had to be changed because of the bird sanctuary,” said a PWD official who asked not to be named.

By then, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had inaugurated its first 22.06-km line between Rithala and Shahdara .

Two years later, in 2004, the Metro also opened the10.84-km yellow line, connecting VishwavidyalayaandCentralSecretariat. And in 2015, the Metro entered Faridabad, extending its violet line. And in December last year, the Kalkaji Mandir-Botanical Garden line passing through the Agra Canal was built, adjacent to where the bypass road was to be constructed.

Meanwhile, in 2007, the Uttar Pradesh government raised objections and did not clear a 43-acre patch of land needed for the road.

A senior PWD official privy to the developments of the Kalindi bypass project said it had been stuck at various levels since its announcement. At present, the PWD has managed to obtain in-principle approval from the UP Irrigation Department for the 43-acre land, but is awaiting a nod from their state government to start construction.