The corridor will start from near the Signature Bridge in Wazirabad, which is under construction, and will pass through Zakira, Pankha Road and Dwarka.
TNN
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has proposed a 29km partially elevated corridor between Wazirabad and IGIA that will reduce travel time to the airport to 30 minutes for residents of north Delhi. The plan was presented before LG Anil Baijal on Tues day , who directed the authorities to approve the Rs 6,000crore project at the earliest.
PWD minister Satyender Jain said the north-south corridor will be partly constructed over the Najafgarh drain. “The corridor will reduce travel time from two hours to 30 minutes. It will be largely elevated and will have a 6-km tunnel,“ Jain said. Jain said the LG had liked the project and had direct ed UTTIPEC, the clearing authority for road projects, to expedite the approval process. “We are hopeful that UTTIPEC will give the permission in a month's time,“ the minister added.
The corridor will start from near the Signature Bridge in Wazirabad, which is under construction, and will pass through Zakira, Pankha Road and Dwarka. The elevated corridor will touch down close to the Urban Extension Road-II (near NH-8).
PWD officials said the proposal has been under consideration at Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) for the past one year. “We have been working on the alignment.Now, we have finalised it after consulting various agencies.It will be submitted to the working group of UTTIPEC for final approval,“ said a PWD official.
After Barapullah, this will be the second corridor constructed largely over a drain.Of the 29km (28.6km is the actual length of the corridor), close to nine km will be constructed on the Najafgarh drain. The six-lane corridor will have a 6.1km tunnel between Zakhira and Pankha Road. The tunnel will be constructed under Satguru Ram Singh Marg.
“We will have to construct a tunnel, as the road width is not much. The tunnel will have all the modern facilities for fire safety , ventilation, lighting etc,“ said a PWD official.
Jain said that the project will be completed within three years from the date of start. “Once the project is approved by UTTIPEC, we will need six months for pre-construction planning and three years to complete the construction work,“ said Jain.
PWD officials say that the project will be completed on time as the alignment has been planned in such a manner that there will be no hur dles related to land. “The drain belongs to Delhi government. The alignment doesn't pass through any private land or property . Once we get the approval, we can start work in full swing,“ said a PWD official.
When asked about the funding pattern, Jain said that the government will fund it but any help from the Centre will be welcomed.
While the corridor will be a big relief for vehicular traffic coming from north Delhi, the government plans to start high speed buses on the elevated corridor to provide affordable mode of transportation to lakhs of Delhiites. “We will have a dedicated corridor for electric high-speed buses,“ said Jain.
While the north-south corridor is likely to get a go-ahead from UTTIPEC, the muchawaited east-west corridor between Anand Vihar and Tigri Border is still stuck in approval stages. Sources say the proposed alignment passes through railway land. The proposal was also presented before the LG on Tuesday .
“It will require some work. We need railways' permission for it. We are discussing it with them and will present the plan again to the LG in 15 days,“ said PWD.
TNN
