Delhi clears elevated road to Noida over Shahdara drain, work to start next month

NOIDA: Almost six years after the Noida authority proposed a 5.5km elevated road over the Shahdara drain to decongest traffic on Delhi-noida Link road, work on the project is set to start within a month.

The Noida authority on Friday said it is likely to start construction in January. The elevated road — from Chilla regulator in East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase 1 to Mahamaya Flyover on Noida-greater Noida Expressway — is expected to provide seamless connectivity to thousands who daily battle congestion on the Delhi-noida Link road.

“Now that we have got the approvals from the Delhi irrigation department, work on this project will begin by next month,” Alok Tandon, chief executive officer, Noida authority, said.

The irrigation and flood control department of the Delhi government, on December 4, had approved the elevated road. The Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC), the authority to approve all transport infrastructure projects in Delhi, gave its nod on Friday.

According to officials, the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation will construct the elevated road. “Since the UP State Bridge Corporation will construct this project, we need not float a tender to select a private agency. The work will start in January and be done in 42 months,” a Noida authority offistarted cial said.

The ₹650-crore project will be jointly funded by the Noida authority and the public works department (PWD) of the Uttar Pradesh government.

The UTTIPEC also approved a loop for traffic coming from Noida to Jaitpur village via an underpass towards Sarita Vihar. After completion of this loop, traffic coming from Noida to Delhi will use the new 6-lane road and traffic moving from Delhi to Noida will use existing 4-lane road (Kalindi Kunj bridge road).

“In the future, to integrate the elevated road with the proposed Kalindi Kunj bypass, provision has been made for a sixlane signal-free stretch, This will traffic to and from Noida and Faridabad. A rotary has also been proposed near Jaitpur village to go towards Kalindi Kunj Metro station, Noida and Sarita Vihar,” an UTTIPEC official said.

The Noida authority, in 2012, had proposed the elevated road over the Shahdara drain. In 2013, it had conducted a feasibility study, but in the last five years, work could not start due to a delay in approvals from the Delhi government as well as the UTTIPEC.

The Shahdara drain, which is controlled by the Delhi government’s irrigation and flood control department, passes through Noida sectors 14A, 14, 15, 15A, 16, 16A and 38A.

According to officials of UTTIPEC and the Noida authority, once the six-lane 5.5km elevated road is ready, it will become part of the loop that will ease commuting between Noida and Faridabad.

There’s another proposal wherein the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) wants to extend the Hindon elevated road till Shahdara drain, a stretch of six kilometres, but due to funding issues, it is currently on hold. If the GDA manages funds, then this loop will connect Ghaziabad seamlessly with Noida and Faridabad.

“The Noida authority is already constructing a six-lane bridge across the Yamuna, parallel to existing Kalindi Kunj bridge. The new bridge will be ready by March 2019. The Delhi PWD has proposed to construct an approach road on the Delhi side near the Yamuna and a rotary in Jaitpur village. Once all these projects are ready — in next 3-4 years — commuters between Faridabad and Noida can travel seamlessly without disturbing the Delhi-noida traffic over the old Kalindi Kunj bridge,” a Noida authority official said.