NEW DELHI: The elevated road over Barapullah Nullah would be opened to general traffic once the Commonwealth Games is over. The stretch will be ready for first trial run on either Sunday or Monday, said sources. During the sporting extravaganza this stretch will be exclusively used for ferrying nearly 10,000 athletes and officials from the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
“The project will be completely ready before the trial runs. Whereas on all other roads sportspersons may see major traffic pile ups on their left and right as they are driven through their dedicated lanes, on this stretch they will get the a full view of the city, with its canopy of trees and protected monuments,” said project manager Sarvagya Srivastava of the PWD.
He added that initially the project looked impossible to accomplish. “Most people, including engineers, advised us to concentrate on a single carriageway rather than build a double-carriage road, but we took a chance. Fortunately, it’s now almost done,” Srivastava added.
Driving on this elevated stretch would take commuters away from the urban clutter at least for those few minutes. They can get a full view of Humayun and Khan-e-Khana tombs as well as the Neela Gumbad. “People will enjoy the drive because of several curves on this stretch. It’s almost like an access-controlled road in the heart of the city. It will be a green drive since there will be less dust and better ambient air quality,” claimed Priyank Mittal, executive engineer in-charge of the project.
A spokesperson of DSC Limited, the construction company that built this project said that best global technologies were used to complete this landmark project in record time.
“This road was constructed maintaining the existing drain corridor and without dismantling any structures in order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of area,” he added.
PWD officials said pre-cast segments were used to build the road. They added this technology helped them complete six metres of road per day, seven times faster than the conventional method.
Highly placed sources in Delhi government said though details of how this road will be used post-Games is yet to be decided, it’s likely that plying of only light vehicles could get a preference. “A bus or truck breaking down on this stretch could lead to huge congestion, spoiling the benefit of this fast link,” an official added – Timesofindia
