Key meet on construction of 2 Yamuna bridges today

NOIDA: To improve connectivity between Noida and Faridabad, the Noida Authority will meet the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) in New Delhi on Wednesday regarding the construction of two proposed bridges across the Yamuna.

While one of the bridges will connect the FNG expressway from Noida's Sector 150 with Faridabad, the other bridge is proposed to link Noida's Sector 168 with Faridabad's Badoli village.

The two bridges are expected to come at a cost of about Rs 1,200 crore.

According to officials, they are waiting for approvals from the Central Water & Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune. "Currently, hydraulic model studies are being carried out for the two bridges at CWPRS," said M P Sharma, chief maintenance engineer (CME) Civil, Noida Authority. "The agency is in the process of finalizing this report, which should come this month," he said.

The CME added that the Authority was now going to seek the requisite approvals from the NCRPB. "The meeting is being held to fast-track the sanctions from NCRPB. Once these are in place, the DPR will be prepared by the consultant and construction will start," he said.

According to Authority officials, the decision to construct the two bridges was taken after taking into account the future traffic situation and the level of increasing traffic on these roads. "According to the Master Plan 2031, the two proposed bridges will connect Noida with Faridabad and vice versa," Sharma said.

"The locations of these two projects are proposed on the 75-metre-wide FNG road between sectors 168 and 187A and a 75-metre-wide road between sectors 149A and 150," Sharma added.

Once in place, the bridges will provide a major relief to thousands of commuters who will be able to reach Haryana from Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad without crossing Delhi and without getting stuck in gridlocks along the two routes.

Currently, commuters coming from Ghaziabad, Hapur, Noida and Greater Noida have to cross Delhi to reach Faridabad. After these bridges come up, commuters will be able to reach Haryana directly without crossing Delhi. The two bridges would benefit around two lakh commuters, who would be able to not only save precious time but also fuel, officials said.

Source: The Times of India