4 lanes and a loop for smooth north Delhi travel

NEW DELHI: A four-lane flyover that promises to ease commuting woes of large swathes of population in north Delhi — and has been seven years in the making — is likely to see the light of day soon. The Public Works Department is set to inaugurate the flyover at

Jagatpur

crossing this month-end. Once operational, it is likely to decongest areas around Outer Ring Road, Burari, Jagatpur, Milan Vihar, Jharoda, Gopalpur and Sangam Vihar.


The project was conceived in 2010, but work started only in 2014. Senior PWD officials claimed that construction work was over and only finishing touches were remaining. These include landscaping and other beautification work.

“The flyover was conceived with an aim to decongest Outer Ring Road as a part of the signal-free corridor towards Mukarba Chowk. The cost of the project is Rs 50 crore and it will be thrown open to the public by September-end,” a senior PWD official said. The flyover starts from Outer Ring Road and has one

loop

— which goes toward Jagatpur village. It connects Outer Ring Road to Burari, Jharoda and nearby areas.

In a bid to decongest the stretch from Mukarba Chowk to Wazirabad Chowk, four flyovers were proposed by the Delhi government — at Bhalswa Chowk, Mukundpur Chowk, Burari Chowk and Jagatpur Chowk. The other three flyovers have already been thrown open to the public. On average, the stretch sees around 70,000 vehicles daily, with traffic coming in from Haryana and ISBT Kashmere Gate. Senior PWD officials claimed that the flyover would resolve the traffic issue in Burari and Jagatpur Chowk.

“Currently, if anyone wants to go to Burari, they have to take a single-lane bridge over the drain. Once this flyover opens, congestion in these areas will be eased,” a PWD official said. With the much-awaited Signature Bridge likely to be completed by October-end, the opening of the Jagatpur flyover will come as a relief for commuters taking the Wazirabad-Burari stretch, an official said.

The Jagatpur flyover was expected to be ready by 2016. However, the project ran into several hurdles. While PWD cited technical glitches, there are several other projects for which the department has failed to invite tenders on time. Despite being sanctioned 3-4 months ago and directions issued by principal secretary (finance) to fast-track them, several key infrastructure projects have failed to take off. PWD is yet to float tenders for important projects like flyovers at Seemapuri and Shastri Park, re-modelling of eight government hospitals and widening of bridges over the Najafgarh drain.