In a major push to ease traffic congestion and improve connectivity across the national capital, the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the construction of a 6-lane road tunnel for NH-148AE connecting Dwarka Expressway (NH-248BB) with Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj in Delhi. The 8.1-km project will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 6,969.67 crore under Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) of the National Highways (Original) scheme. The project will be completed in five years.
The project is expected to decongest key traffic bottlenecks along the Dhaula Kuan-IGI Airport/Mahipalpur, Chhatarpur-Mahipalpur/IGI Airport, and Rangpuri corridors, significantly improving traffic flow across the capital. The government estimates that around 37,000 passenger car units will benefit from the corridor every day.
The underground twin-tube tunnel has been designed to minimise surface disruption, with a 1.98-km stretch passing beneath Southern Ridge Forest, helping preserve the ecologically sensitive area. In addition, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed an elevated corridor between AIIMS and Mahipalpur, which will link the tunnel to the Barapullah elevated road. Once completed, the integrated corridor will provide seamless connectivity between West, South, and East Delhi, while also improving access to Ghaziabad and Noida.
The proposed tunnel will pass through Rangpuri (Southern Delhi) Ridge and has been designed as a twin-tube tunnel to be constructed using tunnel boring machines. It will start from Shivmurti Interchange and terminate before the intersection of Nelson Mandela Marg and Mahipalpur-Chhatarpur Road.
To mitigate congestion at this intersection, a 1.8-km elevated road is also proposed along Nelson Mandela Marg. An additional flyover from Chhatarpur towards Mahipalpur is also proposed alongside the existing flyover. To facilitate right-turn traffic towards Chhatarpur, an elevated U-turn is also proposed.
The project comprises a 6.3-km main carriageway within the overall 8.1-km alignment. This includes 3.14 km of tunnel, 0.98 km of tunnel approach ramps, 0.554 km of reinforced earth wall approaches, 2.556 km of elevated sections, and 0.87 km of at-grade road.
According to the government, the development of each lane-kilometre of a national highway will generate an average of 264 person-days of direct employment and an average of 55 person-days of indirect employment. The project is estimated to generate close to 7.54 lakh person-days of direct employment and 9.80 lakh person-days of indirect employment. The project will also induce additional employment opportunities due to increased economic activity in the vicinity of the proposed high-speed corridor.
