[drmohitg]

Not sure how the flyover numbers are related to the water logging issue. But it is quite wrong to infer a city's development by the number of flyovers it needs. Also while the previous Congress government did construct a lot of them, there were also reports of massive corruptions during that time. Currently almost the entire stretches of ring road have flyovers. So the need for new ones might not be there. A simple google search is showing multiple articles about footbridges and underpasses being constructed under the current government. 2 of them have been near my house. Another road widening project is underway on the ring road between Rajouri garden and Punjabi bagh which was a bottleneck spot for the traffic.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cit...l-2082530.html

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by GTO

No flyover in 6 years, but you guys did get the best Metro system in the country . I would happily trade Mumbai's innumerable flyovers for that (although our metro is also fast expanding, it is nowhere close to Delhi's).

In a parallel universe, Bangalore has got the worst of both worlds - a messy system of flyovers and underpasses (some in the planning phase) and a metro system (along with suburban rail) that has very limited reach - all while charging the highest road tax in the country.

[vishchan]

During my visits to Delhi I always wondered about this Minto Bridge as to why the road can't go over the railway line with more lanes. It makes matters worse since it is very close to congested Railway station area.

[aaychat]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

Attachment 2032339
Minto Bridge in 2020.

Attachment 2032340
Minto Bridge in 2018.

Attachment 2032341
Minto Bridge 27 years back.

Is it just me whose wondering why there's always an unlucky public bus that gets stuck there?

[chaudh2s]

The problem is that our infrastructure (be it roads, drains, electricity, and so on) is built to solve current problem, but never as a long term ( read 50 years timeframe) solution. Currently our storm water drains are like 1 feet in diameter at their narrowest point(maybe even lower 0.5ft) and even the largest ones are like 1-1.5m in dia. Considering the high silt, sand content on our roads, the general tendency of people to throw garbage, plastics on roads, the dia. of these storm water drain pipes must be atleast 5 times more than what we have currently.
Not to mention the design of pipe slope, routing and execution on site must be done by a reputed company so that sufficient scouring velocity can be achieved that allows self cleaning of these pipes.
This was unfortunately not done, and now we have a severe under capacity system which is always choked and to solve this, it needs to be ripped out and relaid, and this is a task of gigantic proportions. So, we would have to live with this situation for years to come now.
Remember in Hollywood films, even from the 80's, and more recently the Spiderman series, some parts are shot inside storm water drains, such is their size, and compare it to what we have here, our system was always planned to be a failure.

[Rsharma06]

Having lived in Delhi my entire life and witnessed umpteen monsoons, the "iconic" picture of a DTC bus submerged under the Minto Bridge is not new anymore. While we can blame the authorities as much as we like and they are to be blamed as well, I have always wondered at the perfect timing of these drivers. They are so perfect that they get stuck under the bridge at exactly the same time when the bridge is flooded only to give us moments like these where we then start blaming the authorities and make these pictures an epitome of heavy rains and its aftermath. All said and done, the authorities have to take a stock of the situation may be get data (pictures in this case) and find out a permanent solution or we will continue to see these pictures every year.

[iamitp]

Having lived in Delhi since 2001, I can confirm that the city's road infrastructure has not been accorded any priority by the AAP government.

I moved to Mumbai for my Masters in 2010 and remember being amazed during my semester break trips by the rapid infra development in the city. Delhi'a infra was the envy of my non-NCR batchmates and it remained the case till about 2015.

Not just flyovers, drive around town and notice the quality of roads especially in West and East Delhi. Central Delhi, being the power centre, has retained its charming roads and I'm guessing the posher pockets of South Delhi have found a way too. There is simply no denying that road quality and infrastructure has gotten worse since the current government came to power.

I can understand rationale behind prioritising education and healthcare but should it really come at the cost of completely ignoring the city's essential infrastructure?

[amoghk98]

Unfortunately, such is the scenario in most Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities in India. The government just doesn't take construction of roads and flyovers seriously. I grew up in Bahrain, and the quality of work was superb. Quality of tarmac, expansion joints on flyovers, drainage system etc, everything was top notch.

Inspite of all the taxes we pay, the quality we see is sub-standard. With the ever increasing traffic, who knows when things will be repaired and the new ones coming up will be of great quality.

Like Delhi, Mumbai is a prime example of the above. The roads get horrible during monsoon, and no permanent step is taken by the BMC to avoid/minimize the issue. Every year it is literally the same story.

Hope the authorities start taking this matter seriously.

[Guite]

New flyovers are not the solution. The Delhi government has been concentrating on health care and education, which I think is the right thing to do. Urban development ministry of the central government should in fact decongest Delhi. Redevelopment and densification of Kidwai Nagar, Nauroji Nagar etc should not have taken place.

[interest]

New flyover are needed unless the government invests massively in public transport. From what I understand, we have had a decline in bus fleet in Delhi (instead of addition) and we have had regular issues in funding expansion of the Delhi metro by the state government. Massive investments in public transport become particularly important to maintain social distancing. Delhi metro (just prior to covid) has already started approaching Mumbai local in terms of density of people onboard.

One major challenge we have in the smooth flow of traffic is the road design itself. I travel regularly from Gurgaon to Saket via the MG road. Anyone familiar with this stretch would easily recognise 2 key problems-
a) there are too many red lights and at every red light the person who has to go straight gets stuck behind the traffic that has to turn right. This happens because the front and right turn signals dont turn/stay green simultaneously. Further, at the point of turn there is no additional lane into which the guys who have to turn right, can park themselves, thereby ending up blocking the entire traffic behind them
b) Chattarpur crossing- I take the maximum amount of time in crossing this junction. It certainly needs a flyover. The sheer amount of pollution caused and the fuel wasted here will be enough to pay for the flyover multiple times over.

To see bad road design, one can also look at the crossing as one exits from Select City walk mall on press enclave marg and proceeds towards malviya nagar metro station. A 4 lane road suddenly turns into a 2 lane road at the metro station with a bus top right next to the metro station making these 2 lanes effectively into a single lane.

I wonder how such plans get passed

[vharihar]

See:

https://youtu.be/-oltmaRmlUY

Chandni Chowk redevelopment project, as of July 2020. When finished, it should look much better than the way it looked when I saw it in our 2015 Delhi trip!

Complete with *underground* internet, water piping, etc utilities, per the narrator.

Fast forward to 5:30 mins, you'll see him saying appreciatively that *mera desh badal raha hai*. Kudos to Kejriwal govt for this project, I believe this is a state govt project. Though I'm sure the *mera desh badal raha hai* statement applies to all infrastructure projects nationwide. Never before have I seen such a vast pipeline of projects being executed with so much serious intent in all parts of our country.

[Herschey]

This is bound to happen when cities which should ideally be growing horizontally, begin to grow vertically.

The mess in Delhi started with the introduction of the registration and sale of individual floors and further progressed with an increased FAR, and then the permission for building ever more high-rises in areas which could not support the added burden of the population.

Delhi Development Authority or the DDA, the agency which was supposed to ensure development of the city turned into its biggest property dealer, handing out land parcels to the highest bidders. One look at how they have developed the city is enough that a bunch of drunk people sat together, cut a few lines on the paper and then called it a master-plan of Delhi. We have houses whose entrances are directed on main roads and intersections, we have parks (if they can be called that) the size of a decent house where kids can't really play, we have manholes right in the center of main roads, we have 6 storied buildings in a plot size fit for constructing a decent sized bathroom, we have shops and places of worship right in the middle of the roads, and what not.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi or the MCD (in all its trifurcated glory today, the MCD has actually gotten divided into three separate corporations but let's treat it as a single unit for the ease of understanding), which was supposed to ensure that all building and development bylaws are rigorously followed, became more synonymous with corruption than for work. It ensured rapid encroachment, flouting of building bylaws in exchange for money, and every other possible form of corruption possible in any municipal corporation.

Both these agencies, the DDA and the MCD, have ensured that the city got more and more concentrated leading to an increase in land prices and minted money in the process. I once met a guy back in 2007 working as a low rung officer in DDA and he owned 7 apartments in different parts of Delhi, mostly in Rohini and Karkarduma area. A truly hardworking individual would struggle to buy even one.

Have things changed? Not really! Both these agencies, the DDA and the MCD continue to be as corrupt and inefficient as ever. It should be a matter of great shame that such failed systems continue to survive and thrive in the capital city of our country.

The current Delhi government under Kejriwal has done absolutely nothing to change the situation on ground. His claim of a world class health and education system in the city fell flat on his face when his own health minister suffering from the chinese virus was shifted from a Delhi govt. hospital to a private hospital after just 2 days of hospitalization. His absolute neglect of the existing infrastructure and the lack of any vision to undertake greenfield projects puts a big question mark on his leadership credentials. But is he solely to blame? The answer is 'No'. The MCD lies in the hands of BJP, the ruling party at center. So who should be blamed for the failure of Delhi's municipalities? BJP has some of the most corrupt, incapable, and obnoxious people calling the shots at MCD. So what happens in such a situation - blame game, name calling, and rampant corruption. People know this pretty well and that's why people didn't vote for the BJP during state elections. If they really get some educated, motivated, and experienced people on board than maybe things can change in the next decade else they would continue to remain a sunken ship in Delhi. This actually seems like a far fetched dream though.

A lot of original Delhiites have already moved out to its suburbs, majorly Gurugram/ Gurgaon and Noida and a lot many more are going to follow suit in the coming years. Delhi has lost its charm and has become more of an urban slum cluster; a slum cluster which even continues to swallow its culture and heritage with each passing day.

[mmxylorider]

This Minto bridge seems to be the King's Circle of New Delhi. As right as rain (pun intended), that place is always a waterlogged area and when the tide comes in, a good waterfront.
As GTO pointed out, NCR folks have been fortunate in having leadership who envisioned the importance of a modern mass transit system - Delhi Metro. Amongst the best and extensive in the world and with coverage established, further expansion will be more aligned towards last mile connectivity and shortening the routes.

[haldar_siliguri]

The reason why flyovers never work in India, is because they are not made to connect every road with the other (like the AIIMS flyover, and the billions of flyovers in the West). Traffic in our cities is so heavy that a single road over another is going to solve absolutely nothing.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by GTO

No flyover in 6 years, but you guys did get the best Metro system in the country

Thats true. But then the majority of the Metro Expansion was choreographed many years back. New Phase 4 implementation was stuck in the current admins' files (project cost / fund sharing part with Center) for more than 4 years now. Aero City-Tughlakabad corridor which passes through our main road (hardly 350 meters to Metro Station) should have commissioned by 2019 end. It started merely at the beginning of this year and then came the Pandemic. Now the deadline is 2025.

Road infrastructure wise nothing has been added in the previous years.