The wait for a decongested and pedestrian-friendly ITO is soon going to be over. The two subways, which are a part of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) ITO Metro project, will be thrown open to the public by July this year.
With an expected ridership of 22,210 commuters, the ITO Metro station along with its subways will immensely help decongest the intersection that witnesses perpetual traffic bottlenecks. The subway in front of the Delhi Police Headquarters at Indraprastha Marg is almost ready and is likely to be opened first out of the two by July. “With civil work almost done, the two subways are in the final stage of completion. Finishing work is left which will take another month and a half. Building the entry-exit points, installing escalators, tiles and signage are left,” said a DMRC official. The height of footpaths near entry/exit points will be reduced and they will be tiled to facilitate comfortable movement of pedestrians and wheelchair-bound passengers.
The two subways being built by the DMRC include one at Deen Dayal Upadhayay Marg and another at IP Marg. The latter one will connect the Delhi Police HQs and the building of the Institute of Engineers to facilitate a safe pedestrian movement. Even those who do not take the Metro will be able to use the facility for a stress-free crossover to the other end of the road. The DMRC had begun work for the two subways in June last year. At that time, the deadline for completion was set for end of September. However, the deadline was missed owing to operational delays and is now expected by July.
The subway that will be a part of the upcoming ITO Metro station on the Central Secretariat — Kashmere Gate corridor, is being constructed using the ‘Box Pushing’ technology with which vertical excavation or large scale digging is not required. As per this technology, six Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) boxes are being pushed with the help of hydraulic jacks to create a 48 metre long subway tunnel. “The boxes are being designed and constructed at the site itself. It takes about 21 days to cast one such box. A thrust bed is being created to generate enough force to push the boxes with the synchronised movement of the jacks,” informed the official. This method is much faster than the conventional cut and cover technology used generally for the construction of subways. “In the case of this particular subway, had DMRC opted for the conventional cut and cover technology, then it would have had to excavate the road above causing great inconvenience to the movement of traffic,” explained another official.
While the crucial Central Secretariat-Mandi House stretch on the upcoming Central Secretariat to Kashmere Gate corridor will be operational by May end, the one at ITO is likely to be ready by the yearend. Meanwhile, the entire corridor from Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate is set to get operational by the end of the 2015.Decongesting the ITO Metro station will have six access points — Police HQs, Institution of Engineers, Dolls Museum, Indian National Science Academy and between CAG and UGC offices on BSZ Marg.