Delhi to Get an 8.1 km Road Tunnel Connecting Dwarka Expressway and Vasant Kunj

The commute from West Delhi to South Delhi is all set to become much faster in the coming time. The Union Cabinet clears the construction of a 6-lane tunnel road from the Dwarka Expressway to Nelson Mandela Marg in Vasant Kunj.

According to the report, the project, to be constructed by the National Highways Authority of India, would be an 8.1 km long corridor that would cost Rs 6,969.67 crore. The project would be implemented under the Hybrid Annuity Mode project of the National Highways scheme and will be completed in five years, as reported by News18.

According to the reports, one important thing about the project is a 3.14 km long twin-tube tunnel which would pass under the Rangpuri (South Delhi) ridge. This tunnel would be built using the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), and a 1.98 km long tunnel would pass under the forest area of ecological importance.

The tunnel would start from the Shiv Murti interchange and end near the junction of Nelson Mandela Marg and Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road.

The project also consists of a 1.8 km long elevated road on Nelson Mandela Marg, a flyover for traffic moving from Chhatarpur to Mahipalpur, and an elevated U-turn for right-turn movement.

The proposed project will help decongest the current arterial roads and enhance access to various residential, commercial, and airport zones, as mentioned by News18.

On average, each lane kilometre of a national highway generates 264 person-days of direct employment and 55 person-days of indirect employment, as per government estimates.

Based on these figures, the total number of person-days generated by the project can be estimated to be around 7.54 lakh person-days for direct employment and 9.80 lakh person-days of indirect employment.

The project will link to the UER-II Dwarka Expressway Corridor with South Delhi. It will improve the connectivity of traffic from Gurugram, Dwarka, IGI Airport, and West Delhi.

The tunnel will be linked with the proposed AIIMS-Mahipalpur elevated corridor, which will have access to the Barapullah Elevated Road. It gives access to West, South and East Delhi, as well as Ghaziabad and Noida, said the official release from the government.

The elevated road of 1.8 km will be constructed on Nelson Mandela Marg to reduce congestion at the junction point. As per the claim of the government, this project will generate job opportunities of around 7.54 lakh person-days directly and 9.8 lakh person-days indirectly.

The project construction of a tunnel with a capacity of six lanes costing ₹6,970 crore.

• The tunnel will link the Shiv Murti Interchange on the Dwarka Expressway with Nelson Mandela Marg at Vasant Kunj.
• The tunnel would help travellers commuting from areas like Gurugram, Dwarka, IGI Airport, West Delhi, and South Delhi by saving their time and decreasing the traffic load.
• The project will be linked with the elevated route from AIIMS to Mahipalpur, making a direct link to the Barapullah Elevated Road.
• Thus, the improved road system will help to reach the areas of East Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Noida, increasing the connectivity in the Delhi-NCR area.
• The infrastructure will include the construction of a 3.14 km tunnel, approach ramps, and elevated roads, including a 1.8 km elevated portion on Nelson Mandela Marg.

In addition to making transportation easy for its residents, the project is also going to be a source of employment for the people, says the government. The employment expected from the construction phase itself is estimated to be as much as 7.54 lakh person-days. The additional indirect employment is around 9.8 lakh person-days.

Also Read: Delhi To Get 97 km Of New Metro Lines

This could range from tunnel engineers to operators to small businesses that inevitably come up around any construction site.

As far as the timeline of the project goes, the government has declared that the project will be completed within five years. With the Cabinet Committee taking more than five years just to approve the project, many people in Delhi might need to see before believing.