Construction work of the tunnel started in March 2018 and was scheduled to be completed by September 2019. The deadline was extended to June 2020 due to the complexities involved in the construction work.
New Delhi: The newly inaugurated tunnel of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor project was thrown open for traffic on Monday. For a few days, the traffic movement has been allowed between 8 am and 8 pm to observe how the facility is responding to the traffic load and also to stabilise the traffic pattern.
Officials of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) on Monday said that vehicular movement in the tunnel started this morning. The traffic police and well as PWD officials will keep a close watch on the movement of vehicles to ensure that everything goes smoothly. A small “pooja” was also performed before the opening of the tunnel for the public and commuters were distributed sweets.
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Commuters welcomed the opening of the tunnel. “Today I used the newly built tunnel and it was a breezy ride to India Gate. Because of the tunnel I could ditch the traffic jam at Bhairon Marg, ITO and reached my destination on Janpath,” said Shishir Srivastava, resident of Patparganj in east Delhi. Earlier, commuters had to face bottlenecks at ITO, Mathura Road, Bhairon Marg and the Ring Road as well while going towards central Delhi areas.
The construction work of the tunnel started in March 2018 and was scheduled to be completed by September 2019. The deadline was extended to June 2020 due to the complexities involved in the construction work.
Delhi’s first road tunnel in the Pragati Maidan area and its five underpasses were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. The Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor, comprising a 1.3-km-long tunnel and five underpasses have been built over four years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday inaugurated the main tunnel and five underpasses. The project is a key part of the Pragati Maidan redevelopment exercise.
The Prime Minister, after inaugurating the project, had tweeted, Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor will ensure ease of living by helping save time and cost of commuters in a big way.”
