Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Corporate Affairs, Shri Harsh Malhotra chaired a meeting to assess the progress of major road infrastructure works, decongestion strategies, and inter-agency coordination issues impacting Delhi. Member of Parliament, West Delhi, Mrs Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Chief Secretary, Delhi, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways  and  senior officers from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Government of NCT of Delhi, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Police, Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Delhi Transport Department and other agencies were also present in the meeting.

Opening the discussion, Shri Harsh Malhotra emphasized that Delhi, as the nation’s capital, must reflect the spirit of “Viksit Bharat” through modern, safe, seamless and environment-friendly mobility systems.

Shri Malhotra reiterated that the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is to transform Delhi into a model city that is decongested, better connected and future-ready, while improving the quality of life for citizens and commuters.

Shri Malhotra stated that  building a " Viksit Delhi” that is decongested, connected and citizen-centric rests on four pillars: Infrastructure that anticipates future demand, not merely reacts to present traffic, Integrated planning, linking highways with urban roads, public transport and logistics corridors, Sustainable mobility, reducing emissions and encouraging cleaner technologies and People-first design, prioritizing safety, accessibility and convenience.

Minister reviewed the secondary service roads along the UER-II which would enhance connectivity and facilitate movement of adjoining villages and habitations. The authorities informed that the project currently is in the DPR stage. While noting the citizen concerns regarding local access, safety, and integration of service roads with adjoining colonies, commercial pockets and institutional areas, Minister asked the DDA to take urgent action. He assured that NHAI as Implementing Agencies, will complete their assigned task in the stipulated time frame. Minister directed both NHAI and DDA to expedite process for enhancing the connectivity in the adjoining areas while stressing on strong inter-agency coordination is essential to ensure commuter safety, infrastructure durability, and effective decongestion.

Minister Shri Harsh Malhotra and Member of Parliament Mrs. Kamaljeet Sehrawat took note of the traffic congestion in the Dwarka Sub-City following the opening of the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II). While UER-II has been constructed in accordance with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Master Plan, it was noted that traffic dispersal into internal colonies and sectors requires urgent planning and execution.

Minister asked the DDA, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and Public Works Department (PWD) and other stakeholders to explore all possible options for decongesting Dwarka Subcity such as diversion of through-traffic away from internal Dwarka roads, strengthening linkages to the airport and Gurugram corridors, better integration with metro and public transportation nodes, and adoption of intelligent traffic management systems.

Minister also reviewed the status of three major road corridors in Delhi that were handed over to NHAI from the Public Works Department (PWD) for maintenance, road repair and widening works, all aimed at easing traffic congestion across these critical corridors. The three stretches -Mathura Road from Ashram to Badarpur Border, Old Delhi- Rohtak Road -- Punjabi Bagh to Tikri Border, and Mehrauli-Gurugram Road -- Mehrauli to Gurugram city ,totalling a total 33 km  and serve as critical links between Delhi and neighbouring areas. Minister directed the officials to expedite the projects for completion with stipulated time frames.

Minister also took a review of the Delhi Decongestion Plan while underlining the need to further accelerate work. The Minister  stressed that decongestion is not only about easing traffic; it also leads to: reduced vehicular emissions, lower travel time and logistics cost, improved road safety, and enhanced economic productivity.

The Delhi Decongestion Plan  primarily focusses on Extension of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway (NE-5) from KMPE till UER-II (NH-344M) in Delhi and Haryana which would  providing Direct Connectivity link to Delhi and Gurugram with Katra through UER-II & Dwarka Expressway,  Extension of  UER-II (NH-344M) near Alipur till Delhi-Dehradun Expressway (NH-709B) near Tronica City in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh which will also act as bypass to NH-44/Delhi Outer/Inner Ring Road as the traffic destined to move to North/North-West/West/South-West Delhi & Gurugram may travel through UER-II & Dwarka Expressway to reach the destination  ,Construction of a Road Tunnel  starting from Dwarka Expressway (near Shiv Murti Mahipalpur) to Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj in the State of Delhi which will facilitate Easy flow of traffic from Dwarka Expressway to Nelson Mandela Marg.

Minister also took a comprehensive overview of ongoing and completed projects, status of approved works, fund accruals of Delhi sanctioned under Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) and Setu Bandhan Schemes as these projects play a key role in strengthening the secondary network supporting National Highways. Officials presented status updates, including works nearing completion. Hon'ble Minister, taking note of the situation directed the officials for timely completion of all the sanctioned projects under stipulated timeframe.

Several  other pending matters between DDA, NHAI, PWD, Delhi Police, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi transport Department, IGL—including land handover, right-of-way clearances were also discussed in detail. It was recognized that early resolution of these issues is essential to keep project timelines on track.

Minister directed officials to adopt a time-bound approach to approvals. All the agencies agreed to maintain continuous coordination and escalate unresolved matters for quicker decisions, ensuring that development work is not delayed and public money is utilized efficiently.

Chief Secretary, Delhi highlighted that coordinated, time-bound execution and resolution of bottlenecks is critical to unlock benefits for citizens. He assured full cooperation from the Delhi Government and called for proactive engagement among agencies to ensure faster delivery of projects.

In his concluding remarks, Shri Harsh Malhotra shared resolve to move forward in close partnership to realize the goal of “Viksit Delhi — Decongest Delhi " and expressed appreciation for the constructive participation of all departments and reiterated the commitment of the Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways to support Delhi’s infrastructure transformation.

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GDH/SJ

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