The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is preparing a plan to construct a four km tunnel from Shiv Murti to Nelson Mandela Marg in New Delhi’s Vasant Kunj to ease traffic movement after a proposal mooted earlier to construct an elevated road was found unviable.

The proposal to build a tunnel is being prepared and soon Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will hold a meeting with concerned agencies and take a decision on the project.

NHAI is spending close to Rs 55,000 crore on different road projects in Delhi to reduce congestion and pollution. The tunnel is expected to be bi-directional of three lanes each.

The officials are working on different alternative alignments and a detailed project report is being prepared. The project cost for the tunnel would be around Rs 2,000 crore.

The tunnel is being proposed to connect NH8-Dwarka Expressway junction near Shiv Murti towards Nelson Mandela Marg to decongest the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and provide alternate connectivity to Gurugram and IGI Airport from central and south Delhi.

The vehicles coming from central and south Delhi can also use the tunnel to get onto the expressway and also the upcoming Urban Extension Road-II, which will provide direct link to Delhi-Chandigarh highway. This will not only reduce congestion on Gurugram Expressway but also on the Ring Road.

News Source: ET Infra.com