Delhi LG approves transfer land to PWD for construction of underpass at Mukarba Chowk

New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has given his approval for the long-pending transfer of 1.20 acres of land from the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Department to the Public Works Department (PWD).
This transfer is intended for the construction of an underpass on the Outer Ring road near Mukarba Chowk, along with the construction of an approach road from Badli Junction to Haiderpur Metro Station in North Delhi, Raj Niwas said in a statement on Friday.

According to Raj Niwas' statement, "This issue, pending since September last year, with LG's approval, will directly ease the traffic congestion in the area and will immensely help the commuters and the residents in the neighbourhood."
Earlier, I&FC Department had measured the area as per marking by the PWD which comes to 4833.75 sq. meters, amounting to a total of 1.20 acres.
The I&FC Department had, as per the direction of the LG in the last meeting of the task force to monitor 77 corridors, given permission to start work at the site in April 2023 after the PWD submitted the alignment and layout plan for the service road at the site.

The cost of the land to be transferred on a permanent basis has been calculated at Rs. 850.26 lakhs, as per the revised rate by the DDA for institutional land allotment between Central Government Department/Institution controlled by Central Government/GNCTD for non-commercial purposes as 'no profit no loss' for financial year 2020-22.

The PWD had requested for the permanent transfer of land for the construction of the approach road up to the Underpass from the entry point of the flyover near Mukarba Chowk on September 06, 2022. Thereafter, the PWD started work at the location in anticipation of a NOC from the I&FC Department.
In a bizarre move, rather than settling the issue through required coordination amongst officials, the I&FC Department lodged a police complaint on November 29, 2022, for unauthorized construction at the site. "It is underlined that the LG has time and again stressed upon seamless inter-departmental coordination and advised officers to not act in silos," the statement read further.

This project is under the 77 corridors regarding decongestion of 77 identified corridors in the National Capital, which is being directly monitored by the Delhi LG. "The work on this project shall be carried out in such a manner that it does not affect or disturb any utility services provided by the other departments already land in underground," it read. (ANI)