In a move to address traffic jams, the Delhi government is set to revive its more than a decade-old Mandi Road widening and upgradation project, which is crucial for smoothening traffic flow on Mehrauli-Gurugram road in South Delhi.
According to Public Works Department (PWD) minister Parvesh Verma, the 8.8-km-long road will be handed over to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which will now expand and manage it. The road is currently under the PWD. South Delhi BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari at his residence and thanked him for handing over Mathura Road from Ashram to Badarpur Border and Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road from Qutub Minar to Gurgaon Border to NHAI.
“These roads were earlier under PWD but work on these roads was not being done for a long time. Now the widening of these roads, their drainage and other necessary changes will be completed soon, which will facilitate the movement of people,” he said.
Sharing details, Verma said that to decongest the Mandi Road, we plan to hand it over to NHAI. They will execute the project and are better at land acquisition, which is very much required in this project. As part of the decongestion plans for the area, a feasibility study will also be conducted for the construction of a flyover near the intersection of Main Chattarpur Road and SSN Marg, the Minister added.
In the past few days, the Delhi government has handed over four major roads, previously under PWD, to NHAI for better management, expansion and maintenance.
Mandi Road starts from MG Road near Chattarpur Metro Station and goes up to Faridabad Road, across the state border and into Haryana. The road is dotted with posh farmhouses, residential properties and shops; however, it is widely used by commuters travelling from Gurugram to Chattarpur and nearby areas, which makes it a choke point during morning and evening rush hours.
According to PWD officials, a consultant for preparing a detailed project report was appointed by PWD in 2012, which submitted the plan to UTTIPEC. Initially, there was also a plan to construct a bypass road. A year later, in 2013, the plan was put in the public domain for feedback, and resident associations recorded their comments. But the project was then kept on hold. At the time, the cost of the project was estimated at Rs 597 crore.
Then, in 2023, the plan was approved by the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) in a meeting headed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
“As per the Master Plan, the width of Mandi Road is 100 feet, but as per the ground survey, the width has been reduced to 60 feet. It has been a long-standing demand of residents to decongest the area,” added Verma. To widen the road, approximately 20 hectares of land need to be acquired.
