PWD Focuses on Stuck Underpass

The Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to complete work on the stuck Pragati Maidan tunnel underpass along the Bhairon Marg, by reducing height and width of the underpass, restricting its use to light motor vehicles and reducing the number of carriageways from three to two, officials aware of the development said.

- Snehil Sinha

NEW DELHI:

Once the proposal is approved, work may be completed within eight months, officials said.

"The department worked on several solutions and also took expert opinions from IIT Delhi and Bombay before finalising the plan. We have formulated a proposal that includes design changes, such as reducing the height of the underpass to make it technically feasible, and sent it for approval. We are hoping to begin work soon," PWD minister Parvesh Verma said.

The underpass is part of the six Pragati Maidan tunnel underpasses—five of these were inaugurated by the Prime Minister and opened for public use in June 2022. However, work on the Bhairon Marg underpass was halted in 2023, due to persistent waterlogging that caused two concrete boxes—being pushed under the railway overbridge, as part of the box-push technology—to shift and sink during monsoon.

Officials said the site was especially vulnerable to frequent inundation as it was hardly 100 metres from the banks of Yamuna, containing higher groundwater levels. The site has three active railway lines above the junction, and construction and tunneling work could only be done during a four-hour window every night. Both the issues were tackled with redesigning the drainage around the area, officials said.

A two-lane carriageway of this underpass is completed and opened for public use, while a three-lane carriageway is still incomplete.