New Delhi: Though a clear and pollution-free Yamuna remains a distant dream for the city, there’s now hope that a small stretch of the waterway will be cleaned up within a few years and made attractive enough for Delhiites to visit and enjoy their river again.
The Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) has come up with a novel proposal to clean up the stretch of river from the Wazirabad barrage to a kilometre downstream to help make the yet-to-be-built Signature bridge a tourist destination.
‘‘Since tourists will not come to see the bridge if the river is dirty, we have decided to clean up this stretch. We plan to place a rubber barrage 1km downstream of the existing barrage. Just after the flood season, the barrage will be inflated and water will collect between the Wazirabad barrage and the rubber barrage. In time, this water will clean up naturally. Before the next floods, the rubber barrage will be deflated, the water let out and the process repeated after monsoon. The technology is being used in Andhra Pradesh,’’ said a tourism department official.
There is also a plan to shift the mouth of the Najafgarh drain, which at present empties near Wazirabad barrage, about 600-700m downstream. ‘‘A pipeline will transport all drain water downstream,’’ said a tourism department official.
The Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation also plans to use the water collected between the two barrages for water sports. ‘‘But this will be taken up in the second phase since at the moment our priority is to finish the Signature bridge,’’ the official added.
The Signature bridge project was first proposed in 1997 and was originally slated to be completed before the Commonwealth Games. The government now hopes to finish the work by December 2013. But, as a result of the delay, the project cost has escalated to Rs 630 crore from the original estimates of Rs 460 crore.
Signature bridge and its two approach roads, together called the Wazirabad bridge project, will cost the government a total of Rs 1,131 crore. The project includes construction of a main cablestayed bridge, the western and eastern approach roads, pedestrian subways, road signages, landscaping and horticulture work.
The bridge will have a bow-shaped pylon in the middle. Two high towers will be placed on the inner periphery of the carriageway to provide double support. The decks will be composite (steel and concrete) while the pylon will be of steel.
The project was recently revived by the Delhi government after years of indecision. ‘‘For a long time, the project did not get the go-ahead at several Cabinet meetings. Because of the delay, costs have escalated,’’ said a senior government official.
The expenditure on the project has raised eyebrows. ‘‘Had the task of building the bridge been given to any other agency, they might have made a regular bridge. But since we were given the task, we decided to make the bridge a tourist attraction,’’ said a Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation official.
Work on the approach roads is on. The bridge will connect NH-1 on the western bank of the Yamuna to the Khajuri Khas intersection on the eastern bank.
A BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIVER
Construction of bridge will be part of Phase I
Total length 675m, 8 lanes
Main span of the bridge
251m
Height of the single inclined steel pylon 150m (painted)
Revised cost | Rs 630cr (original was Rs 460cr)
Additional work | Eastern and western approaches
Combined cost
Rs 1,131cr
Deadline | Dec 2013
In Phase II, area around the bridge will be developed
Cleaning Yamuna for nearly 1 km downstream of Wazirabad barrage
Creating a 200-acre water body with provision of water sports
Walkway along the western side of Yamuna from Wazirabad to Majnu Ka Tila
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