The three-lane Sarai Kale Khan flyover was opened for traffic on Sunday, facilitating better connectivity between Central, East and Southeast Delhi.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who inaugurated the flyover, congratulated and thanked everyone involved in its construction including PWD officials, engineers, contractors, agencies, and workers.

 “Earlier, there used to be jams at T-junction, now people will not have to bother with it with the construction of this flyover. This flyover is 620 metres long. We sanctioned Rs 66 crore for this project, and completed it in Rs 50 crore only. Just as every other project of the Delhi government, we saved the money on this as well,” he added.

 “With the construction of the DND extension, Ashram Underpass and now this flyover, people can travel without any interruptions. Earlier there used to be heavy traffic jams at Ashram. There are no traffic lights on the entire ring road area within Delhi, be it the area of ITO, Chandgi Ram, Ashram, Moolchand, and Dhaula Kuan,” he added.

 “As our next step, we’re studying every main point of traffic jams in Delhi. Based on this study, we’ll construct the U-turns, flyovers, etc as per the need to make Delhi traffic jams-free,” he added.

 Citing facts and figures related to development of flyovers and underpasses, he said since 1947 till now, 102 flyovers and underpasses have been constructed in the national capital.

 “Among these, 30 have been constructed by the AAP government in only eight years. What’s been done in 75 years, 30 per cent of this has been achieved in just eight years by the AAP government. This shows how rapidly Delhi is being developed. In the coming times, 25 more flyovers are being constructed. Nine flyovers are under-construction and another 16 are at the stage of approval. This will lead the tally to more than 125, and 50 per cent of this will be developed by the AAP government in 8-10 years,” he noted.

 Citing the example of the Rani Jhansi flyover which was built at Rs 1,500 crore and had an initial cost of Rs 300-400 crore, the chief minister stated that any governmental development work in the country doesn’t complete without cost escalation.

 “In Delhi, we complete all the work on time and save money in the process. In the construction of 30 flyovers in our government, we saved Rs 557 crore. It should be in the Guinness Book that there is a government in Delhi, India, that saves money on every task with complete honesty. Just as we save money in our homes, we work with complete honesty in the government and save every single penny,” he added.  He said “PWD stands for corruption” across the country, but in Delhi, it is synonymous with “honesty”.

 “Our ‘PWD’ department is saving money on every project. The whole of Delhi is witnessing how many obstacles we face in our work every day. There is a great effort to stop our work, but despite all these obstacles, we continue to work. We have always said that no matter how many obstacles are in the way, I will not let your work stop, even if the work slows down,” he assured.

 PWD Minister Atishi said Kejriwal has completely transformed the area between Sarai Kale Khan and Ashram. “Earlier, commuting via Ashram meant that we had to face hours of traffic jams. This also impacted the connecting areas with traffic as people tried to take different routes to avoid jams in the Sarai Kale Khan and Ashram areas,” he added.

She added that this flyover has not only made Sarai Kale Khan and Ashram traffic jam-free but now there will be no traffic signal between the Chandgi Ram Akhada area and Ashram. Now this 16-km stretch on Ring Road is completely signal-free, Atishi added.