Construction of underpass at Ashram intersection on Mathura Road delayed again

The construction of a 750-meter-long underpass at the Ashram intersection on Mathura Road is delayed yet again and the deadline has been pushed by two months, Public Works Department (PWD) officials involved in the project said on Saturday.

According to the officials, the revised deadline of the project is now August 31. The earlier one was June 30.

The delay will add to the traffic woes of thousands of commuters who rely on the stretch and residents who live nearby.

Ashram Chowk is an important link connecting central and south Delhi with the satellite towns of Noida and Faridabad. The junction connects Mathura Road and the Ring Road (linking Lajpat Nagar-Sarai Kale Khan and DND Flyover).

Ever since the construction of the underpass began in December 2019, massive jams have become common on Mathura Road and the Ashram flyover during peak traffic hours.

This is the third time that the deadline of the project has been pushed. Its foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on December 24, 2019.

The project's initial deadline was December 2020, which was extended to March 2021 and then further pushed to June 30, 2021.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 78 crore.

''Deadline of the project has been pushed to August 31 from June 30. The delay occurred because of shortage of labourers during the second wave of COVID-19 as workers had gone to their hometowns,'' a senior PWD official told PTI.

PWD officials said currently the construction work of the tunnel just beneath the Ashram intersection is being carried out, while the work on the ramps of the underpass is in the last leg.

They added that the traffic diversions on the Ashram intersection are likely to be eased in September. “We are diligently working to finish the project within the given time frame. The underpass is likely to be ready for use in September this year,” an official said.

Currently, the PWD has extended barricades up to the center of the main intersection and has also simultaneously taken up space on the sides of the Mathura Road for the construction of pavements, leaving less space for vehicular movement.

Traffic police data shows that around three lakh vehicles cross the Ashram intersection every day during peak traffic hours.

Once the project is completed, it would benefit commuters taking the busy Ashram crossing and would ease the ride towards Sarita Vihar, Badarpur, and Faridabad from ITO.

The Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) — the apex body for approving infrastructure projects in the city — had approved the underpass in January 2016 for a signal-free ride from Nizamuddin to New Friends Colony on Mathura Road.

It was to be completed by March 2018, but the project was delayed for want of financial approval. The financial approval was granted by the expenditure finance committee (EFC) of the Delhi government in November 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)