Work On Bhairon Marg Underpass Resumes

New Delhi: Work on the Bhairon Marg underpass has resumed after the Public Works Department decided in Aug to lower the height of the underpass. For two years, the Pragati Maidan transit corridor work has remained incomplete as PWD was unable to finish the underpass due to heavy water seepage and design issues. Having started work recently, PWD officials were optimistic the long pending corridor would finally be completed.
This particular underpass, among the five in the transit system there, is intended to provide a route for motorists to reach Sarai Kale Khan, ISBT, Ashram and areas further away from central Delhi.According to PWD officials, the plan is to complete the work and open the underpass for use soon. "We have adopted a fresh approach to complete the underpass," an official said. "At present, only half of the carriageway has been opened for public use. This has been made into a two-way road with entry and exit on the same side."
The U-turn on Ring Road near the Indraprastha metro station that provides access to the road to the Sarai Kale Khan Inter-State Bus Terminal is a bit of problem for the time being since it is often the cause of traffic congestion due to its proximity to a petrol pump and the exit of the main Pragati Maidan tunnel where the traffic volume is very heavy. PWD has been thinking of closing this temporary measure for some time, but until the Bhairon Marg underpass is fully opened, this arrangement has to remain in place.
Officials added that while they were still going ahead with the box-pushing method, the height would be brought down from 5.5 metres to 4 metres. In this method, fabricated boxes that are open on either end are pushed in, creating the solid form of the tunnel. The existing open lane of this underpass also has height barriers installed at the start of the ramp. This lane currently is used for the entry and exit of vehicles from Ring Road and Bhairon Marg.
Earlier, the plan was to open the underpass only to traffic moving from Bhairon Marg towards Sarai Kale Khan and to close the temporary U-turn. However, after hitting a major hurdle in completing the construction of the other lane, the underpass has been made out of bounds for the public right now.
The deadline for the completion of the road project keeps changing. Last year, in its legal notice to the private construction firm handling the construction of this underpass, PWD complained about the delay in work and other issues. The entire transit corridor has been mired in controversy and PWD even sent a legal notice to construction giant L&T over its "faulty design".