The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the construction of an 8.1-km six-lane road tunnel connecting the Dwarka Expressway (NH-248BB) with Nelson Mandela Marg in Vasant Kunj at an estimated cost of ₹6,969.67 crore. The project, to be implemented under the hybrid annuity mode (HAM), is expected to be completed in five years.
<figure class="art
The tunnel will pass beneath the Southern Ridge, one of Delhi’s largest forested areas, using Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) technology to minimise surface disturbance. Stressing that protecting the Ridge was central to the project’s design, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said all construction would be carried out without affecting the ecologically sensitive area.
“All work must be done without disturbing the Ridge. This Ridge is, in a way, the lungs of Delhi. Therefore, the tunnel must be taken from underneath it without disturbing it at all,” Vaishnaw told reporters after the cabinet meeting. He said detailed geotechnical and environmental studies had been undertaken to ensure the project would have no impact on the Ridge’s geology or ecosystem.
The project will provide a direct link between the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II)-Dwarka Expressway corridor and South Delhi, improving connectivity for traffic from Gurugram, Dwarka, the Indira Gandhi International Airport and West Delhi. According to the government, the tunnel will eventually connect to the proposed AIIMS-Mahipalpur elevated corridor, providing seamless access to the Barapullah elevated road and creating a continuous corridor linking West, South, and East Delhi, as well as Ghaziabad and Noida.
Also Read:Residents allege illegal C&D waste dumping along Dwarka Expressway
The alignment will begin at the Shiv Murti interchange on the Dwarka Expressway and terminate before the intersection of Nelson Mandela Marg and Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road. The project comprises a 6.3-km main carriageway, including a 3.14-km underground twin-tube tunnel, of which nearly 1.98 km will pass beneath the Southern Ridge. The remaining length includes approach roads, elevated sections and ramps.
To ease congestion at the Nelson Mandela Marg-Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road intersection, the project also includes a 1.8-km elevated road along Nelson Mandela Marg, an additional flyover for traffic moving from Chhatarpur towards Mahipalpur and an elevated U-turn to facilitate right-turn movements.
According to the government, the project is expected to generate about 7.54 lakh person-days of direct employment and 9.8 lakh person-days of indirect employment during construction.
The cabinet also approved the construction of the 117.7-km Kanpur-Kabrai section of NH-34 in Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of ₹7,145.14 crore. The four-lane access-controlled greenfield highway will be developed under the build-operate-transfer (toll) mode as part of the Bhopal-Kanpur Economic Corridor under the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan.
Designed for future expansion to six lanes, the highway is expected to reduce travel time between Kanpur and Kabrai from around three-and-a-half hours to about one-and-a-half hours. According to the government, the project will improve connectivity to Bundelkhand’s industrial clusters, mining areas, agricultural markets, logistics hubs and airports.
