Foundation laid for 2 flyovers to ease Isbt-shahdara traffic
SMOOTH RIDE To be built at Shastri Park junction and Seelampur crossing within 18 months
NEWDELHI: Traffic bottlenecks in congested east Delhi areas such as Seelampur and Shastri Park are expected to ease out by August next year, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government laying the foundation stone for two road infrastructure projects on Sunday. The projects include construction of a two-way flyover at Shastri Park junction and a one-way flyover parallel to the existing one at Seelampur crossing.
State urban development minister Satyendar Jain claimed both projects would reduce travel time between Kashmere Gate inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) and Shahdara by five minutes to seven minutes. “These flyovers would give a boost to road infrastructure in east Delhi. Once operational, the stretch between ISBT Kashmere Gate and Uttar Pradesh border will become signal-free,” he said adding work on the two projects would be completed within 18 months.
Under the first project, the Public Works Department (PWD) would construct a 700m long sixlane flyover with a double carriageway at Shashtri Park junction. The width of each carriageway of the Shastri Park flyover will be 10.5m. The flyover will have two loops; one coming from Khajuri Chowk and turning towards Kashmiri Gate and the second one coming from Gandhi Nagar and turning towards Shahdara.
The second project will be 1.2 km long two-lane, one-way flyover which will be constructed parallel to the existing one-way flyover at Seelampur crossing. The width of each carriageway on the Seelampur flyover will be 7m.
The cost of the projects is pegged at ₹303.31 crore. PWD officials said work for the two projects was awarded recently. These projects were cleared by the Delhi Cabinet in July last year, while the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) had approved them in June 2017.
Speaking at the event, chief
Kashmere Gate Metro station Yudhishter Setu
Shastri Park Metro station
Seelampur Metro station
Yamuna river Rajghat Welcome Metro station
Geeta Colony Laxmi Nagar Estimated time of completion
minister Arvind Kejriwal criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for harping on communalism, demonetisaton, Goods and Services Taxes (GST) and the ongoing sealing drive.
“Real national building is these flyovers… Infusing hatred in people is not nation building,” he said.the CM also blamed BJP for obstructing its flagship projects including CCTV surveillance for better safety, installation of which he said would begin next week, mohalla clinics and building classrooms. He also alleged that northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari and east Delhi MP Maheish Girri had not worked in their respective constituencies in the past five years.
Kejriwal also sought to put an end to the constant confrontation with the Centre by asking people to vote for AAP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“It is clear that the next government in Delhi will be of AA, so if you elect the seven Delhi MPS from AAP as well, then all development works would speed up 100 times. These fights should end for development to be fast-tracked,” he said.
Responding to Kejriwal’s allegations, BJP’S Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari said the CM was raising “only political issues” for votes while his government had missed major development targets. “The AAP government failed to provide any buses or even walking space to pedestrians, roads are also full of potholes. All this is nothing but a way of diverting people’s attention and misleading them,” he said.