Rani Jhansi Flyover Now Open To Public
The most delayed infrastructure projects in the history of the national capital, the Rani Jhansi flyover is finally ready. The flyover has been inaugurated by Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Conceived in 1998, the flyover is one of the major infrastructure projects that would decongest north Delhi. However, the project has missed several deadlines in the past few years.
The route
The flyover will be a 1.6-km stretch that would start at Filmistan Cinema and would drop down near St Stephen’s Hospital. The flyover will pass through the congested stretches of Azad Market Chowk, Pul Bangash and DCM Chowk. Once operational, the flyover will decongest the roads going towards Kamla Market and Delhi Ridge and would connect Pusa Road, Upper Ridge and Rohtak Road through Filmistan Cinema, DCM Chowk, Azad Market and Roshanara Road extending to ISBT (Kashmere Gate), hence providing a major relief to the heavily congested area.
The hurdles
The flyover was expected to get operational before the Commonwealth Games, 2010, but due to the Delhi High Court stay on the demolition of shops and structures, the land acquisition got delayed for an indefinite period. This includes handing over of private property to the construction agency, exchange of land with Railways and the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, shifting of MCD schools, markets and permission to cut more than 612 trees. Currently, cases that are still pending include handing over of 102 sqmt land at Beri Wala Bagh and 700 sqmt land at Model Basti. There are still some minor issues going on with railways. The estimated cost of construction for the flyover was Rs 177 crore. Now the estimated cost of the project is pegged at Rs 825 crore.
Gaining momentum
1998: The Rani Jhansi Flyover is conceived
2006: MCD prepares estimates, land acquisitions started
2009: Construction work starts, deadline set at 2010
2010-14: Project gets delayed due to land acquisition and compensation issue
2014: PIL filed to take immediate steps in constructing the flyover by removing all obstacles
2016: The Delhi Jal Board starts shifting water pipelines, new deadline set at March 2017
2017: The Supreme Court stays the demolition of the remaining shops at Filimistan stretch
2018
March: Technical glitch further pushes the deadline of the project