Three elevated flyovers completed, `350 crore saved

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dedicated the first section of a six-lane elevated road that was to cost Rs 247 crore but ended up costing only Rs 143 Crore. The 1.6 km road on the Ring Road connects Azadpur and Prembari Pul in North Delhi. 

Similarly, the third section of the 23.6 km-long Vikaspuri-Wazirabad elevated corridor was opened for traffic. The 3.8 km-long stretch from Madhuban Chowk to Mukarba Chowk has been completed for Rs 300 crore against a sanctioned budget of Rs 421.79 crore. The cost saving is a result of a design innovation by PWD through which the entire structure is balanced on a series of single pillars.

This, said PWD minister Satyendar Jain, resulted in a saving of at least 25 percent of the cost. Against a normal cost of Rs 60,000 per sq m, the new design cost only Rs 42,000-43,000 per sq m.

The city government has already started consultation for state-of-the-art elevated corridors in the city which will have double-decker roads above the surface roads. As per the proposal, one of the levels will be fixed for buses while the other would be a paid corridor for cars. This move comes after the Chief Minister ruled out surface BRT projects in the city.

“The project is at a very nascent stage but in the first phase we are planning a 300-km double-decker elevated corridor in the city. These corridors will criss-cross the national Capital to ensure speedy and timely bus service at par with the Delhi Metro,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He further informed that the government is in consultation with international infrastructure developers to get it done with minimum possible cost. “Today, people park their cars and board Metro trains while they never do it for buses for a simple reason; the bus service is very poor and not on time.

 

We want to put bus service at par with Delhi Metro in terms of frequency and timeliness,” he added. In pursuance of the above scheme, a delegation of Delhi government led by PWD Minister Satyendra Jain is likely to visit Malaysia soon. 

As per the initial proposal, the cost of the elevated roads is around Rs 100 crore per km which is very less compared to Delhi Metro’s Rs 3,000 per km (approx). “The investors are very keen to invest in the city’s infrastructural development and we hope to complete the first phase in this tenure,” he added.

“The concept behind a paid corridor is to recover the cost of the project from the elite class who can pay for hassle-free traffic,” informed Kejriwal. The Chief Minister also added that his government will go for global tendering to purchase buses in the city. “As there are only two manufactures — TATA and Ashok Leyland — the buses are very costly. It’s like a type of monopoly in this sector. We have made a list of all the international manufactures and will go for global tendering soon,” he further added. 

The government had planned to add 10,000 more buses in the fleet of DTC but could not bring any so far due to long negotiations with the bus manufactures. According to sources, government has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to conduct surveys and prepare detailed reports, on which the department has initiated work.

“We have done some initial surveys and are zeroing in on a 10 km stretch from Mehrauli to Badarpur. If things go as planned, this could be the pilot project for the ambitious plan of the government to de-congest busy roads in the city. The government may go for Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for implementation as it will require huge investment,” said a senior officer of PWD.