Delhi roads to be redesigned on lines of European cities: Arvind Kejriwal

The Delhi government has appointed a consultant for redesigning of national capital roads on the lines of European cities and it is likely to be completed by early 2023, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

Chairing a review meeting, the chief minister said the consultant should submit the detailed project report by February 2021 for rapid progress of the project.

"The PWD should remove all hurdles in the redesigning of the city roads along the lines of European cities to complete the project within stipulated deadline," he said.

The consultant is responsible for preparing and submitting a detailed project report by February 2021 based on which tenders will be given and the operations will begin by June 2021, said a government statement.

The Delhi government is working to redesign 540 km of 100-feet-wide roads on the built-operate-transfer (BOT) model and the construction company will take care of the maintenance for 15 years, it said.

Public Works Department Minister Satyendar Jain, the secretary, engineer-in-chief and officials of the department were present in the meeting.

Bottlenecks on roads cause traffic congestion at various points in the city, the statement said.

The priority will be to remove these bottlenecks first for smooth flow of traffic and an organised lane system, it said.

The second goal would be to increase the efficiency of the existing space on the roads, it said.

There will be measured and planned spaces for vehicles, non-motorised vehicles, footpaths, and side-lanes.

The footpaths will be widely mapped to an average of 10 feet for the convenience of pedestrians and will be redesigned and reconstructed as per a standard height for the convenience of the physically handicapped, it said.

The project will also enhance greenery and address the issue of road dust.

There will be separate spaces for the planting of trees on the sides of the footpaths, it said.

The slope of the roads, as well as the drains, will be redesigned to tackle the problem of waterlogging on the roads.

Rainwater harvesting structures will be built inside the drainage systems to store rainwater as groundwater, the statement said.