This New Year, people of Delhi,  especially those who spend hours in the traffic jams on Mathura Road, Pragati Maidan and Bhairo Marg will feel respite as the Public Works Department (PWD) has started working at a frenetic pace to complete construction of 1.2 km 'Underground Tunnel' at Pragati Maidan by January 2020. PWD officers say they want to complete the construction before the deadline.

According to sources, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) has asked the PWD to finish the construction work by first of January next year. PMO intervention has come in wake of complaints by the harried people. As a matter of fact, actual date of completion of the project is March 31st 2020.

As per the Delhi traffic Police and PWD officials, on an average commuters spend around 30-40 minutes on this route to reach their destination.

PWD has completed 60 per cent of the work on this underpass. "The vital segment of the construction such as digging, layout and other important work on the tunnel and underpass has been completed. PWD has gone an overdrive to finish the 1.2 km long by January next year," said a Government official.

"The vital segment of the construction such as digging, layout and other important work on the tunnel and underpass has been completed. About 40 per cent work is left and the PWD is moving quickly to finish the tunnel by January next year," said a Government official.

The tunnel underneath Pragati Maidan is a part of integrated street transit corridor development project of Mathura Road. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 777 crore.

This underground tunnel will be a major relief to the commuters and will de-congest the daily traffic chaos that occurs on Mathura Road, Pragati Maidan and Bhairo Marg T-Point.

According to officials, the upcoming tunnel at the Pragati Maidan will be first of its kind stretch in the national Capital to be constructed with new technologies. Besides, the Mathura Road route will be made signal free. "Currently, on this route there are four 'Red Light Signals' between Sundar Nagri and ITO and once the Tunnel will be ready, these stopping's will made signal free and four U-Turn's on Mathura Road will be constructed for smooth traffic and travel," added the official.

Officials further added that the never ending bottle necks on the Bhairo Marg stretch will also become a thing of past after the construction of this stretch.

"After the widening the National Highway (NH)- 24, the stretch has been sandwiched between Sarai Kale Khan and Indraprasth metro station with heavy traffic jams comings from NH-24. During peak hours, it takes about 20-30 minutes to clear the traffic congestion on this route. Bhairo Marg is the main route for the commuters come from Faridabad and Palwal but this stretch been a havoc for the people with heavy traffic jams. Signal free option will be a major relief and two loops will also be created on the stretch to manage the traffic," said the official.

It is also to be noted that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, last year asked PWD to find solution to end the traffic on Mathura Road.

As per the Delhi Traffic Police, nearly 3.5 lakh vehicle use this stretch via ITO.

The underground tunnel will connect India Gate and the Ring Road near Purana Quila (Old Fort) and will pass through the Pragati Maidan Thermal power station. Further, the tunnel will provide a signal free travel to those travelling to and fro from Noida, Ghaziabad, East Delhi, Sarai Kale Khan, Jangpura via India Gate. Moreover, with this construction, traffic jams at ITO red light will also end and a U-Turn will be provided near Supreme Court and will also provide a relief to the traffic congestion on the Pragati Maidan Parking.