NHAI prepares plan to decongest city traffic

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 13

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) today disclosed a detailed plan of the government to decongest city traffic that included connecting all the highways that pass through the national Capital and development of intersections that witness heavy traffic jams every day.

This was disclosed at a high-level meeting of the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. Besides Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, the meeting was attended by Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The NHAI said the ministry has taken a comprehensive exercise for decongestion of arterial road network of the national highways – 1, 2, 8, 10 and 24 – converge at Delhi. The NHAI has taken up comprehensive development of the highways.

The presentation said that for complete decongestion interconnectivity among highways needs to be improved for which few more roads are required to be developed.

It said additional road network required to be upgraded include completion of urban extension roads for connectivity between national highways, development of Rangpuri bypass, up gradation of Ashram Chowk-Badarpur section, development of Kalindi Bypass connecting Faridabad-Ballabhgarh bypass and completion of FNG expressway.

Besides, completion of inner and outer Ring Roads that were planned in 1962, urban extension road proposed in master plan as third Ring Road along with western boundary are also necessary for the traffic decongestion. Alignment of urban extension road connects the highways passing through Dwarka and Najafgarh and extension of Nelson Mandela Road to Badarpur are also important.

However, the authorities concerned said there are many hindrances while doing all these development works in the capital. The Delhi Development Authority had issued notice to acquire land for this purpose between 2006 and 2007. But the land cannot be acquired so far even after disbursement of compensation to farmers. Some lands are protected under High Court’s order.