Work to 'double' Savitri flyover set to begin soon

The Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) has signed off on the plan to "double" the one-way Savitri Cinema flyover along Outer Ring Road in south Delhi, and work on the long-delayed project to add a carriageway towards Nehru Place is likely to begin soon, officials said on Thursday.

- Snehil Sinha

Once complete, the expanded flyover is likely to ease traffic around Chittaranjan Park, Greater Kailash and Nehru Place. However, the work, which is expected to last at least a year, will severely hobble traffic along the arterial road that links south, southwest and southeast Delhi and falls on one of the most popular routes to the airport.

The plan to widen the flyover was proposed nearly a decade ago, but has been tangled in procedural hurdles since then, PWD minister Parvesh Verma told HT. "We are taking several steps for decongesting the Outer Ring Road where people are permanently hassled by traffic concerns... Our government has cleared the budget and I have asked officials to start work at the earliest," he said.

The 1.5km single-lane, one-way flyover sandwiched between the Chirag Delhi and Kalkaji flyovers will be converted to a two-lane one, as part of the plan. It carries traffic from Nehru Place towards Chirag Delhi and IIT Delhi.