PWD rolls out plan to ease up Ring Road after LG word

NEW DELHI: Spurred by lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, the Public Works Department intends to decongest Ring Road, especially between Sarai Kale Khan and the airport. The process of hiring a consultant for a feasibility and solutions study has begun.
The project has become necessary since the central government has approved the redevelopment of seven government residential colonies on Ring Road, with plans to almost double the current number of dwelling units here.
Concerned about the traffic situation, PWD sources said the LG directed PWD and other government agencies to look for a solutions to ensure that the construction of 25,000-odd government quarters — against the existing 12,000 — in Nauroji Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Tyagraj Nagar, Mohammadpur, Kasturba Nagar and Srinivaspuri does not hamper road movement. AK Mittal, chairmancum- managing director of NBCC, the building agency, said, “With several redevelopment projects planned along Ring Road, there a need to augment the road’s capacity. NBCC and PWD are getting a survey done to explore the possible solutions to decongest the Ring Road.” Sarvagya Srivastava, engineer- in-chief, PWD, said, “We were working to augment the capacity of existing roads in the city.
Now, we will incorporate the requirements of NBCC and look for ways to enhance existing road capacities and provide alternative routes.” Last November, PWD floated tenders consultancy on a feasibility study of the road between Sarai Kale Khan and IGI airport. Sources said, however, that the department wasn’t satisfied with the consultants’ response. “We are going to refloat the tender,” a PWD source said. “The consultant will carry out a feasibility study and provide solutions on how to comprehensively cater to the increased traffic load.”

The feasibility study will be funded by NBCC, which is tasked with redeveloping Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar and Netaji Nagar on Ring Road. At Nauroji Nagar, NBCC plans a state-of-the-art commercial centre spread over 25 areas. The remaining four colonies of Kasturba Nagar, Thyagraj Nagar, Srinivaspuri and Mohammadpur will be developed by CPWD in the next five years. NBCC’s East Kidwai Nagar redevelopment project, which will have close to 4,700 dwelling units and commercial complexes, will be completed by the middle of 2018.
Sources say the project alone would result in substantial increase in traffic volume. The Ring Road stretch in south Delhi is critical because it is one of the two main routes to the airport from Noida, Ghaziabad and east Delhi. The traffic volume will dramatically increase once the National Highway-24 widening project is completed. The National Highways Authority of India has already informed PWD that the existing Ring Road would not be able bear the increase in load.
PWD officials said there was no scope for road-level improvement in south Delhi due to commercial and residential establishments along Ring road. Where necessary, therefore, efforts will be made to construct an elevated network of roads as alternative routes.