2 years too late, Kalindi Kunj bridge to open in December

NOIDA: The new bridge parallel to the Okhla Barrage near Kulindi Kunj, which is already delayed by two years, will now be completed in December, officials in the Noida Authority said.

The earlier deadline was November 2018, which, the officials said, had to be put off because of two reasons - the widening of the bridge on the Shahadra outfall drain that will connect with the Kalindi Kunj bridge is still not over and a blanket ban on all construction activity across NCR for 10 days from November 1. The Authority claimed work on the Kalindi Kunj bridge was almost 93% over and it would be opened to public in December.

Commissioned in 2014, the project was supposed to be ready by August 2016. The deadline was, however, extended to March 2017 due to funding issues and then to November 2018. Once completed, the new bridge will provide respite to thousands of commuters travelling across Delhi, Noida and Faridabad daily.

Officials said connectivity between Noida and Delhi would further be enhanced by the fact that the new bridge is located about 40 metres from the Magenta Line metro that connects Kalindi Kunj with Botanical Garden.

"Work on the Kalindi Kunj-Okhla Barrage bridge is 93% complete. However, work on widening the bridge on the Shahdara outfall drain is not over yet. So, the new Yamuna bridge will now be ready by December-end. Also, because of the 10-day construction ban in NCR, we had to stop work on the bridge and were unable to expedite work. However, we will complete this bridge by December and have it inaugurated this year itself," said Rajeev Tyagi, general manager (projects) at Noida Authority.

The 618-metre long Kalindi Kunj bridge, built on 15 pillars with a 41-metre distance between each, will have two carriageways of three lanes each. It will also have a central verge and 1.5-metre wide pedestrian pathways on each side.