Housing and Urban Development – Commuting Infrastructure

Commuting Infrastructure

“With 73% achievement rate, PWD has delivered projects before time & within the allocated funds. The budget focuses on construction of underpasses, flyovers, transit corridors etc. 500 km of beautification of roads, is a milestone to be achieved this year.” – Satyendar Jain, Delhi PWD Minister (Link)

Delhi Road Network under Different Jurisdictions

Note: AAP Delhi government has control over only 1260 km out of the total of 30,000 km of Delhi roads through the PWD. Most of them are over 100-feet wide. The rest –  i.e.  95.8% – are under MCDs (Municipalities), NDMC, DDA and Delhi Cantonment, which are not under AAP’s control. Most of the smaller internal roads, i.e. 23,000 km, come mainly under the 3 municipalities. 

Infrastructure Projects 

Delhi infrastructure is growing rapidly under the AAP government.
In FY 2019-2020 alone, 36 major infrastructure projects were completed by Dec 2019 and 23 more were in the pipeline.

Bridges, Flyovers, Underpasses and Foot Overbridges

Signature Bridge

This was inaugurated on 4 Nov 2018 by the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal after a wait of 14 years. 

Built by Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) at a cost of about Rs 1518.37 crore, the Signature Bridge, in the form of a Namaste, is double the height of the Qutub Minar and is said to be India’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge. 

It not only saves commute time and thereby fuel, but it also acts as a tourist spot, overlooking the Yamuna, with a panoramic view of the city.

(Source: Tweet by DaaruBaazMehta)

(Source: Tweet by Ankita Shah)

(Source: The Guardian)

(Source: Tweet by Arvind Kejriwal)

Foot Over Bridges

In 2019-2020, the work of five footover bridges had been completed fully and more than 90% work had been completed with respect to four bridges by Dec 2020.

(Source: The New Indian Express)

Flyovers

The AAP government built 23 flyovers in 4.5 years after 2015. 

“In 15 years, the Sheila Dikshit government built 70 flyovers. In the last four-and-a-half years, our (AAP) government has built 23 flyovers.” – Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM, at inauguration of the 2.85 km signal-free new RTR flyover on 16 Jul 2019 (Link)

• The construction work of the Flyover from Munirika to Army Hospital on the Outer Ring road was completed and opened to the public on 16th July 2019.

• In Dec 2019, the Delhi Government approved the extension of the Ashram Flyover upto DND Flyway.

Roads

• The Delhi government flagged off the development of Rohtak road in Nov 2020 at a cost of Rs. 25 crores. 

• Construction of Elevated Road over Barapullah Nallah 
  • Phase-I of the elevated road over Barapullah Nallah connected Sarai Kale Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Stadium. 
  • The extended two-km Phase-II connected Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium and INA Market and was completed in July, 2018. This resulted in a saving of about 25 minutes in travel time from JLN Stadium to INA Market. 
  • The Phase-III of the corridor to Mayur Vihar is under construction. Once Phase-III is completed, the travel time between Mayur Vihar to South Delhi will reduce to 15-20 minutes which now takes more than an hour. It will also reduce the travel time of east Delhi commuters to the airport.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated Cloverleaf ramps, service roads and cycle track at Mayur Vihar Phase -I flyover in Aug 2021. The project is a part of Barapullah elevated road corridor under Phase-Ill extension from Mayur Vihar to Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi. This cloverleaf will ease the way for those commuting between Delhi & Noida.

 (Source: Tweet by AamAadmiParty)

(Source: Tweet by TOI Delhi)

Huge Savings on Flyover Construction

The AAP government had saved 500 crore on construction of flyovers by Feb 2021.

Flyover	Estimated Cost (in cr, Rs)	Actual Cost (in cr, Rs)	Savings (in cr, Rs)
Shastri Park and the Seelampur flyover	303	250	53
Madhuban Chowk corridor	422	297	125
Mangolpuri to Madhuban Chowk	423	323	100
Meera Bagh to Vikaspuri	560	460	100
Prem Barapula to Azadpur	247	137	110
Jagatpur Chowk flyover	80	72	8
Bhalswa flyover			16
Burari flyover			15
Mukundpur Chowk flyover			4
Mayur Vihar flyover			5

Repair Work by PWD

Prevention of waterlogging at Minto Bridge

“There was no waterlogging underneath Minto Bridge because of elaborate arrangements made there to avoid water accumulation. Nine pumps have been installed to flush out water from Minto bridge. Sound alarms along with blinkers and CCTVs have also been set up near the bridge for swift action and real time monitoring,” said an official from the PWD department on July 28, 2021.

An experimental drain that was constructed along Minto Road to stop storm water from getting mixed with sewage water seems to have worked.

Repair of PWD roads using maintenance vans

On 1st Oct 2021, a massive drive was launched to repair and maintain PWD roads, using maintenance vans in large numbers to cover all the areas of the city of Delhi.