The Public Works Department (PWD) has sought the Defence Ministry’s permission to construct an elevated road over Defence land, which will connect Ring Road near Kirby Place with Dev Prakash Shastri Marg near Todapur village in Central Delhi.
The project is estimated to cost around Rs. 500 crore.
The corridor will provide additional connectivity between places like Dwarka and Janakpuri in West Delhi and Central Delhi, besides reducing the traffic congestion on Ring Road and NH-8.
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“The proposal has been sent to the Defence Ministry for permission. Defence representatives had attended a meeting convened by the UTTIPEC around a month ago. In principle, they appeared satisfied with the proposal. But, the final word is still to come,” a senior PWD official said.
Officials said the five-km road that cuts through a portion of the ridge area, will reduce traffic on Sardar Patel Marg, Upper Ridge Road, Naraina Loha Mandi Road, and Patel Road as it will help motorists bypass these busy roads leading to Dhaula Kuan and Raja Garden.
As of now motorists travelling from West Delhi and Dwarka and going towards Central and New Delhi generally take one of the three roads — Sardar Patel Marg, Upper Ridge Road and Naraina and Loha Mandi Road. People reach Sardar Patel Marg via NH-8.
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The three roads cross Ring Road between Dhaula Kuan and Raja Garden Chowk leading to congestion in the area.
Cut in travel timeThe elevated corridor would be helpful in easing traffic on all these roads apart from cutting down travel time by up to 30 minutes.
As per the proposal, the six-lane elevated corridor would run parallel to a metalled road over the stretch, which is currently used by Defence personnel.
A portion of the stretch would also cut through the ridge area for which separate clearance would be required from the Ridge Area Management Board.
“We would approach the Ridge Board once we get the clearance from the Defence department. Technically, clearance for the proposal should not be an issue as the corridor would be elevated and land beneath could be used by other agencies as they want. The green cover would also not be affected much as the land could be used again for planting trees,” an official said. Moreover, similar provisions have been made in the past for the Delhi Metro corridors.