Rs 920-cr transit corridor at Delhi's Pragati Maidan opens after 3-yr delay

The Pragati Maidan transit corridor project is designed to speed up travel, provide direct connectivity to Pragati Maidan; relief for commuters stuck in traffic jams in areas such as ITO

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the main tunnel and five underpasses of the Pragati Maidan integrated transit corridor, which is a part of the larger redevelopment project of the area.

Built at a cost of Rs 920-crore, the corridor began in 2017 and was expected to be completed by 2019. Several deadlines were missed amid congestion issues and then the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is a New India that solves the problems, takes new pledges and works tirelessly to realize those pledges”, Modi said at the inauguration.

Located near the centre of the city, the Pragati Maidan corridor is expected to provide smoother vehicular mobility in an otherwise congested area. It is the latest of the efforts to enhance intra- and inter-city connectivity of the national capital. The prime minister mentioned other road infrastructure projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Jaipur expressways.

The 1.36-km-long tunnel will have six lanes, with a three-lane carriageway on both sides. Connecting the Ring Road with India Gate through Pragati Maidan, the corridor is meant to facilitate faster travel for over 100,000 commuters, and provide direct connectivity for events held at Pragati Maidan, with added relief for commuters also stuck in traffic jams in adjoining areas such as ITO.

Speaking on decongestion of roads and the consequent reduction in pollution, the prime minister also spoke about the need for increasing engagement with public transport. He added that metro services have grown twofold to 400 kms in the last few years, and asked people to use the service more.

Meanwhile, Union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav, in a series of tweets, said that the corridor will prove to be beneficial for the environment, saving almost 5.5 million litres of fuel per year.

"Based on the preliminary studies, it has been deduced that the tunnel will contribute to travel time savings of nearly eight minutes per vehicle," he wrote.