Making commute easier: Underpass, skywalk at Delhi’s Benito Juarez Marg to be ready by March

Commuters travelling to and from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Central Delhi, and New Delhi will now have a much easier commute with the works department expediting construction on the much-delayed Benito Juarez Marg (BJ Marg) underpass and skywalk. The project is set to be completed by March.

The underpass project was originally scheduled for completion by January but a National Green Tribunal ban on construction activities in the National Capital citing pollution delayed the work.

A Public Works Department official told The Indian Express that the work was on schedule and the majority of the civil work had been completed. Only lighting, roofing, and flooring work in the underpass are left.

Pillars for the skywalk have also been erected and readymade steel girders are being installed. The project should be completed by March and will come as a relief to commuters, the official said.

Nearly 2.5 lakh commuters daily will benefit from the 1.8-km underpass and the 670-metre skywalk. At present, commuters from Gurgaon and the international airport have to travel via Dhaula Kuan to reach Central Delhi and AIIMS. Once the underpass is completed, they can take the Outer Ring Road via Benito Juarez Marg underpass and reach Moti Bagh and AIIMS.

The underpass will begin from the metro station at Durga Bai Deshmukh South Campus and split into two wings in a ‘Y’ shape. The underpass will also decongest vehicular traffic at Dhaula Kuan.

The skywalk will benefit students of Jesus and Mary College and Maitreyi College. The colleges are shut due to Covid-19 curbs at present but, when open, the students had to take a longer route that many girl students complained was unsafe for them.

The project was proposed in 2013 and initiated in 2015, while actual civil work began in 2016. Several issues such as the pandemic-induced lockdown, shortage of labourers, and the ban on construction, and revision of guidelines delayed the project.