Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari inspected the ongoing work of Chandni Chowk Flyover, Flyover bridge to be constructed on National highway 4 on Saturday. (Express photo by Ashish Kale) Almost three years after laying the foundation stone for the construction of multi-level flyover at Chandni Chowk, Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari said the issues related to land acquisition have been resolved and attempts would be made to complete the already delayed project in a year.
Chandni Chowk is the main junction that connects Bavdhan, NDA, Pashan, Mulshi Road, Paud Road, Mumbai-Bengaluru bypass and witnesses heavy traffic due to its connectivity to the Information Technology Park at Hinjewadi via the highway. The bridge was planned to ensure smooth flow of traffic at Chandni Chowk as the area was too congested.
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari inspected the ongoing work of Chandni Chowk Flyover, Flyover bridge to be constructed on National highway 4 on Saturday. (Express photo by Ashish Kale)
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has handed over around 99.5 per cent of the land required for the Rs 900-crore project to give much needed push for the project, which was delayed due to failure to acquire the land. However, the delay has extended the deadline for completing the work from 2021 to 2023.
The PMC had proposed the multi-level bridge to ease the traffic in the area but the project was delayed due to the high construction cost. Thus, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) offered to implement the project while the PMC was supposed to make available the required land. It took long for the PMC to acquire the land due to the shortage of funds to pay compensations to the owners of the properties, including a multi-storey building, a few bungalows and open plots owned by private and government agencies, on the said land. The previous state government led by then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had decided to support the project and avoid any delay in its implementation. It provided Rs 185 crore to the PMC for acquiring the land for the project, calling it a special case.
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari inspected the ongoing work of Chandni Chowk Flyover, Flyover bridge to be constructed on National highway 4 on Saturday. (Express photo by Ashish Kale)
“The contractor for the project was given the work order to complete the project within 910 days, which was supposed to get over by 2021. However, there were a lot of problems faced in land acquisition for the project. Now, the revised deadline to complete the project is 2023. We are exploring the possibility of carrying out the project work throughout the day and completing it in a year’s time…,” said Gadkari.
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The minister took the review of the project for which he had laid the foundation stone three years ago. “The authorities have been asked to create a traffic diversion plan for faster implementation of the project,” he said.
“The PMC has handed over 99.5 per cent of land required for the multi-level flyover at Chandni Chowk to NHAI in January this year. The work would speed up now,” said Mayor Murlidhar Mohol.
He said the overall project cost is Rs 900 crore with Rs 465.22 crore to be spent by PMC and the state government has provided Rs 185.43 crore to the civic body for acquiring the land.
A total of 18.973 hectare land needed to be acquired for the project, Mohol said, adding that the PMC has acquired 131 of the 138 properties so far. “The problems in land acquisition and then Covid-19 outbreak delayed the implementation of the project,” Mohol said.