Projects worth Rs 24,000 Cr to be taken up to decongest Delhi: CM Rekha Gupta

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta

The Centre is helping in a big way to decongest Delhi and make it a pollution-free city through various infrastructure projects, including a proposed elevated road from INA to the IGI airport, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Wednesday.

After a meeting with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Gupta said detailed project reports (DPRs) of projects worth Rs 24,000 crore have been prepared.

She said feasibility is also being assessed for a tunnel from Sarai Kale Khan to the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport. Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Minister of State for Road Transport Harsh Malhotra and Delhi ministers were present at the meeting to review the progress of ongoing National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects in the national capital.

Gupta said the "double-engine" government is benefitting the people of Delhi a great deal — a reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being in power at the Centre as well as in the city.

"NHAI projects worth Rs 35,000 crore are ongoing in Delhi, while projects worth Rs 64,000 crore have been completed," Gupta said, thanking the Centre for it.

The chief minister shared that the NHAI has also approved road overbridge (RoB) and road underbridge (RuB) projects worth Rs 150 crore for the capital.

"Projects worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore have been carried out for Delhi and I am thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari for that," she said.

Gupta said these projects, including a proposal for an underground, 7-km tunnel from Shivmurti to Nelson Mandela Marg, will help decongest Delhi and reduce pollution.

She cited various projects, including an elevated road from INA to the airport that will be later connected to Faridabad and Gurugram, the Delhi-Katra-Amritsar highway that will be connected to the UER (Urban Extension Road)-II and an extension of the UER-II from Alipur to Tronica City.

This will enable vehicles to reach Dehradun from Haryana and Noida without entering Delhi, Gupta said.

The NHAI has also taken over the development of various roads, including the Delhi-Rohtak road, a road from Punjabi Bagh to Nangloi, the Ashram-Badarpur road and MG Road, and will also make those signal-free. The NHAI will develop a drainage system and service roads along these roads, the chief minister said.

The NHAI is using inert waste to construct roads in Delhi, she said, adding that it will help clear the garbage mountains in the city.