New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that Public Works Department (PWD)'s "macro" project which includes construction of a three-lane flyover parallel to the existing one at Rao Tula Ram Marg for easing traffic congestion in the area appears to be "well thought-out". A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul also said the first flyover, built in 2009, at Rao Tula Ram (RTR) Marg was a "misadventure".
It was not impressed by the claim of Vasant Vihar residents that they are suffering due to use of their colony roads by commuters and causing frequent jams on RTR Marg flyover and joked that if Vasant Vihar residents are suffering then it would be the end of the world. The court adjourned the matter to October 16 after residents of Vasant Vihar, who have opposed the proposal to build the new flyover, sought a day's time to study PWD's project report and see if there are any "obvious" problems with the same.
During the hearing, PWD said all concerned agencies were consulted along with the residents of Vasant Vihar while developing the project plan. PWD also said that demolition of existing RTR Marg flyover and then building a new one there having six-lanes would result in shutting down of that portion of the Outer Ring Road for nearly three years, while building a parallel flyover extending from Munirka to Signals Enclave will not hamper traffic movement.
PWD gave details of its project which also includes developing alternative routes to decongest the traffic movement on RTR Marg by utilising under-utilised roads like Benito Juarez (BJ) Marg. PWD said it proposes to build an underpass connecting BJ Marg with the Ring Road as well as San Martin Marg which goes towards Jesus and Mary College. This would result in providing an alternative route for traffic flowing to and from National Highway 8 through RTR Marg and Dhaula Kuan.
PWD also said that there is a proposal to build a three kilometre-long bypass from Mehrauli to Mahipalpur here and passing underneath the western Aravallis. It said only the permission of the Ridge Management Board is awaited to begin the project and added that no land needs to be acquired as the bypass would be underground.
Most of these sub-projects would take anywhere from six months to 24 months to be completed once they are started and would be part of the same tender that would be awarded for the construction of the new flyover parallel to the existing one at RTR Marg, PWD told the court.
Vasant Vihar residents associations have in their plea sought that a six-lane flyover be built in the same location by demolishing the existing one while PWD plans to build a three-lane elevated road from Munirka to Signals Enclave, which will also run parallel to the RTR Marg flyover.
PWD, while admitting to having made a mistake in making only a three-lane flyover at RTR Marg in 2009, said it had "succumbed to the pressure of some influential people" of the area who were not willing to part with the side-lanes of their colony in order to widen the main Outer Ring Road at that location.
The associations have also sought quashing of the notification by PWD inviting tenders for constructing the three-lane flyover as well as directions to authorities concerned to give in detail the studies carried out by them pursuant to taking the decision to build a new flyover.
Their petition also sought directions to the Centre and Delhi government to ascertain the reasons behind designing of the existing "faulty flyover" at RTR Marg and take appropriate action against those responsible for the same. They have also challenged the draft proposal of RITES recommending building of the three-lane flyover, saying the PSU "failed to adequately take into consideration future traffic growth and other relevant factors which have a bearing on traffic growth".
PWD had in a status note recently denied before the court the allegations of the associations, saying all due diligence was carried out by all concerned authorities before approving the proposal.
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