Delhi to develop multi-utility ducts to end road digging

Ugly sights of piled-up debris due to continuous digging of roads, causing traffic disruptions and inconvenience for pedestrians alike, will soon be a thing of the past. Delhi Government is developing multi-utility ducts that will feature shared underground corridors.

As part of the important initiative, the Government on Thursday announced a pilot project at two locations in Chandni Chowk to construct Multi-Utility Ducts (MUDs) with shared underground corridors for various essential services. At technically suitable locations, these ducts can be used for electricity cables, water and gas lines, fire-hydrant networks and other essential utility services.

Stating this, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said her Government has taken this important decision to make the capital safer, future-ready, developed and beautiful.

Rekha Gupta also said in a rapidly developing metropolis like Delhi, repeated excavation of roads by different utility agencies according to their individual requirements is a serious urban problem.

She said the construction of multi-utility ducts would reduce the need to repeatedly dig up and repair roads, minimise disruptions to traffic, reduce inconvenience to citizens and help maintain the structural strength of roads more effectively. The government took this decision at a recently held Cabinet meeting. As regards the pilot project, Rekha Gupta informed stretches measuring 310 metres on Esplanade Road and 560 metres on Mor Sarai Road in Chandni Chowk have been proposed for selection. Work on both is set to begin soon.

Based on the experience gained from these two pilot corridors, multi-utility ducts would be constructed in other parts of Delhi. The pilot project would help assess how different utility services can be better accommodated within a shared underground system and how such infrastructure can be expanded in the future according to the requirements of different parts of Delhi, she said. The CM said an expert technical committee would soon be constituted for the entire system. The committee would include expert officials from discoms, the Delhi Jal Board, the Public Works Department and other departments.

Based on the committee’s supervision and recommendations, work related to the construction and expansion of multi-utility ducts in different parts of the capital would be taken forward.

The Chief Minister said the technical design of the multi-utility ducts would include essential provisions for ventilation, fire safety, easy access for maintenance and emergency response. The objective is to ensure that different utility services can operate safely and in an organised manner within a shared underground corridor.

Rekha Gupta said Delhi’s development vision is not limited to meeting today’s needs. “We want to create infrastructure that is safe, well-organised and sustainable, keeping future requirements in mind. The multi-utility duct is part of this vision.”

She said the system would enable better coordination among different agencies and create a more organised framework for developing underground utility networks in Delhi. With shared underground corridors available, maintenance of utility networks and their future expansion would become easier and faster. It would also help reduce the possibility of accidental damage to utility lines during excavation and improve coordination among various civic and utility agencies.

The CM said the multi-utility duct initiative marks an important shift towards coordinated urban utility planning, replacing scattered underground works undertaken by different agencies according to their individual requirements. It would also create a more organised foundation for the future expansion of new utility services.

The Government’s objective is to develop infrastructure in Delhi that is safe, clean, strong, well-organised and aligned with future requirements.

The multi-utility duct is an important step under this broader vision to make Delhi’s urban infrastructure more coordinated and sustainable.

With shared underground routes available for different services through multi-utility ducts, the need to repeatedly dig up and repair roads would be significantly reduced. This would minimise traffic disruptions, reduce inconvenience to citizens and help maintain the structural strength of roads more effectively.