Underground subways at Connaught Place may soon give way to foot overbridges (FOBs) for pedestrians, after NDMC decided to scrap construction of subways in the area. There is growing scepticism, not only in India but worldwide, over safety of commuters in such underground passages.
NDMC vice-chairperson Tajdar Babar, however, said any such decision would be carried forward only after approval from the council. "Subways are not safe, what with the increasing crime rate. The council is considering construction of FOBs instead of dingy subways. These bridges will have escalators and lift facilities," she added.
This will, however, be subject to clearance from multiple agencies, including the Delhi Urban Arts Commission.Before the Commonwealth Games, NDMC had decided to construct eight subways in CP alone. The idea has been dropped in six cases already, while work on two others — in front of Blocks D and E — has been stopped for now.
"There will be a meeting for a review. The need for subways in those two blocks will be discussed. If the plan proves feasible, we will discontinue and build a foot overbridge instead," said a senior NDMC official.
The council has incurred losses of Rs 3.20 crore as it had already completed the first phase of two subways, one at G Block towards Panchkuian Road and the other at H Block towards Railway Colony. Both were later abandoned. The subways scrapped right at their inception were planned at Yusuf Zai Market, Chelmsford Road, State Entry Road and P Block towards SBS Marg.
While announcing the civic body's budget earlier this year, NDMC chairperson Archana Arora had hinted that construction of the two subways in CP might be stopped. "We spoke to the people and they said they did not want subways. So we dropped the project and focused on improving existing subways," she said.
At present, CP has subways at KG Marg, Janpath, Parliament Street and Baba Kharak Singh Marg. NDMC has a total of 15 subways in its areas at INA market (Aurobindo Marg), opposite Gurdwara Bangla Sahib (Ashoka Road), opposite Birla Mandir (Mandir Marg), opposite Ram Manohar lohia Hospital (Baba Kharak Singh Marg) and near Regal Building (Sansad Marg). It is also working on details to construct only foot overbridges from now since FOBs are also cheaper.