Having missed several deadlines, the Sarita Vihar underpass that connects Kalindi Kunj to Okhla Industrial Area is set to be thrown open to public this month. Once operational, the underpass would reduce the distance between Kalindi Kunj and Okhla Industrial Area to merely two kilometres from the existing 9 km. Officials said the project, jointly executed by DDA and the Northern Railways, is complete and the date of its opening would be announced soon. Ideated in the year 2008, the project missed several deadlines and was scheduled to be completed by December 2013.
While eight lanes of the underpass — four lanes on each carriageway — will be used by heavy vehicles, there will be a dedicated cycle track as well.
The rail underbridge (RUB) that passes under the Delhi-Mumbai rail lines has been constructed by the railways while the remaining portion of the project which includes the approach roads is being constructed by the DDA. However, the DDA had stalled its share of work citing technical issues that essentially delayed its execution. “We were responsible for constructing the RUB as this portion of land belonged to the railways. The RUB has been completed and now DDA has to construct the approach roads,” said a Northern Railway official.
Since the project started, its design has been changed many times. Though conceived in 2008, the actual work could start only in 2009 and the initial cost of the project has also more than doubled from Rs127 crore to nearly Rs300 crore.