Hands-on: Sisodia visits Pragati Maidan tunnel proj site, says to finish in a month

New Delhi: After having directed engineers of the Public Works Department to ensure that they spend enough time on-site to inspect ongoing works, Deputy CM and PWD Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday conducted a site inspection of the massive Pragati Maidan Tunnel project and road corridor and said the facility will be ready for commuters in a month's time.

Sisodia also posted pictures of the Pragati Maidan tunnel and underpasses on Bhairon Marg and the Ring Road on Twitter, saying, "Reviewed the construction of the roads and tunnel around/under Pragati Maidan, Bhairon Marg, Mathura Road and Ring Road. This corridor will soon ease traffic in and around Ring Road and India Gate. The work is almost complete and will be ready to be opened in a month."

In the pictures of the Pragati Maidan Tunnel project, major construction works along with painting on walls of the tunnel and underpasses have been completed.

Under the project, the PWD is constructing a 1.2-km-long tunnel and six underpasses at an estimated cost of Rs 777 crore.

The tunnel will start near National Sports Complex of India (NSCI) on Purana Qila Road and pass underneath the redeveloped Pragati Maidan to culminate at the Ring Road near Pragati Power station. The construction work of the tunnel was started in March 2018.

While taking stock of the project in Pragati Maidan earlier this month, Sisodia had said that lakhs of people use these roads daily and keeping in mind the value of their time, the PWD was making all efforts to ensure the work is completed as soon as possible.

Recently, Deputy CM Sisodia took over the PWD from his Cabinet colleague Satyendar Jain, following which he has held regular meetings with officials and issued new directions to ensure works are finished as soon as possible.

Soon after his takeover, Sisodia had also announced that the ever-delayed Ashram Underpass would be ready for use by the end of this month and that the Ashram flyover extension to DND would be done by the end of the year.

Delhi-Gzb-Meerut RRTS

Meanwhile, in other infrastructure news, officials of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) have said that the tunnelling work on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor had begun from the Anand Vihar side to the New Ashok Nagar side. The 82-km-long RRTS corridor will have 25 stations, including two depots and

one stabling yard. The stretch is expected to be completed

by 2025.