PWD asks Atishi to set date for Anand Vihar corridor

The Public Works Department has written to chief minister Atishi, who holds the PWD portfolio, asking her to set a date for the inauguration of the Anand Vihar elevated corridor in east Delhi — a much-delayed 1.4-km project that will connect Anand Vihar and Apsara Border, along the Ghaziabad border in northeast Delhi.
The government began trial runs at the elevated corridor last month, but the presence of two large trees on the carriageway from Anand Vihar to Apsara Border — the requisite tree felling permissions were not granted — is likely to disrupt traffic movement on that carriageway.
However, PWD officials in their communique to Atishi said the construction and finishing work on the elevated corridor is complete, and said that the trail runs were successful.
HT has seen a copy of the communique.
“All work by PWD is now complete and the inauguration can be done at any time. The traffic trial is also going fine… The two trees right near the media will be an obstacle, but permission to cut them is likely to take time since this area is considered ‘deemed forest’. We have proposed to place barricades so that a section of one lane will be occupied while two other lanes will still be available,” a senior PWD official told HT, on condition of anonymity.
K Jegadesan, special commissioner of police (traffic zone-1), said the trial runs have been completed.
“PWD has already sought permission from the authority concerned (forest department) for cutting the two trees. We hope it will get permission soon… For the safety of motorists, we have taken certain measures that include placing barricades near the trees and pasting fluorescent (reflective) tapes,” he said.
The official quoted above said PWD may also add rumble strips to control speed near the trees.
“There is a concern because the trees are towards the downward slope, when the speed of vehicles tends to increase. We will be taking all precautions to ensure visibility through reflectors and speed control using rumble strips,” the official said.
Once fully operational, the six-lane corridor is expected to reduce the traffic load on the surface level road — called Road number 56 — and help commuters bypass traffic snarls at Ramprastha Colony, Vivek Vihar, and Shreshth Vihar.
Planned in 2019, the Anand Vihar corridor faced hurdles right from the start – the commencement of the project was first delayed because of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The foundation stone was finally laid in October 2022 by then CM Arvind Kejriwal and speaker Ram Niwas Goel, and the corridor was to be completed by December 8, 2023. However, further delays — mainly construction bans, transfer of utilities, and lack of tree-cutting permissions — have pushed the project more than 10 months behind schedule.