Delhi Government keeps its date with Games

The Public Works Department of the Delhi Government on Saturday completed all its 24 Commonwealth Games-related project with the opening of all the flyovers on the U.P. Link Road that would connect the Games Village with Noida, where some of the cycling events would be held.

PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said the Department has completed projects worth Rs.4,000 crore for the Games. Most of these projects are of permanent nature and would benefit the public even after the Games.

The Minister said the U.P. Link Road project was a major work that had been allocated to PWD with a short deadline. “The main hurdle in this project was the refusal of Uttar Pradesh Government to hand over some land to Delhi. Still we did it and as against the original estimated cost Rs.334 cores, the project has been completed in less than Rs.300 crore,'' he said.

Mr. Chauhan said as part of the project the work on widening of the bridge at Chilla Regulator at the Noida entry point was also undertaken. “The completion of the U.P. Link Road project has reduced the travel time in East Delhi significantly. People would now be able to cover the distance from Kashmere Gate to Noida in just about 20 minutes because the road is completely signal-free. This when the road passes through some hitherto most crowded junctions like ITO Chungi, Raja Ram Kohli Marg flyover, Geeta Colony bridge and Ring Road by-pass, which have all been made signal-free now.''

The Minister said PWD has worked hard to construct various important projects for the Games. “The Barapullah elevated road is a miracle of engineering. The four-kilometre-long road has been completed within 20 months. Normally a project of this size takes around three years,'' he said.

The elevated road would next be extended up to INA in South Delhi and Mayur Vihar in East Delhi, he added.

Mr. Chauhan said the Ring Road by-pass project has been another major achievement of PWD as this Rs.600-crore project has reduced the density of traffic on this important road significantly. Besides, PWD has also completed improvement of Road No. 56, construction of Ghazipur and Apsara Border grade separators and flyover at Shyamlal College in North-East Delhi.

He said the Department has also installed street lights on 450 km of roads and signages on 403 km of road. It has also constructed three stadiums which have been completed and handed over to the Organising Committee. The Chhatrasal and Ludlow Castle stadiums were renovated while Thyagaraj Stadium is a new construction.

As for the streetscaping work, Mr Chauhan said it has been done on 50 km of road where a lot of greenery has been added.