Delhi to get dedicated Cycling-Pedestrian corridor through forests

NEW DELHI: The National Capital will soon get a dedicated green corridor for cyclists and pedestrians – ‘Delhi Cycle Walk’. Amit Shah, Home Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs laid the foundation of the project today, on January 6, at Tughlakabad. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Anil Baijal, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Tarun Kapoor, Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) were also present at the occasion.

The Delhi Cycle Walk will be a 200 km long stretch developed through the ridges and green covers of the city. The corridor would loop around the city of Delhi and connect with metro stations, bus stands, residential areas, commercial areas recreational districts and educational districts. The Cycle Walk will also connect lakes as well focusing on rejuvenating dried lakes. The initiative will prove to be a haven for cyclists and pedestrians.

The Cycle Walk aims at making city friendly for cyclists and pedestrians; promoting use of non-motorised transport and making travel more economically affordable; reducing vehicular emissions in the city; connecting forests and lakes in the city through a pathway and also conserving the green cover.

The salient features of the Delhi Cycle Walk as proposed are – solar powered lights to be placed along the entire corridor, CCTV cameras to be installed at every 100m stretch and will be further connected to a centralized monitoring station. Further, there will be facilities for the public convenience like toilets, water points and more. The corridor will also provide parking facility for cars and two-wheelers. There will be rain water harvesting chambers placed as well. “The green corridor will benefit a lot of people while travelling to and fro offices, colleges hence improving first and last mile connectivity in the city”, said Amit Shah, at the ceremony. Further, he said, “The project will offer pedestrians and cyclists a safe passage for their everyday travel.” On the occasion Hardeep Singh Puri said, “The project will not only be beneficial for the people for Delhi but will also be beneficial for the city.”

The project will be carried in a phased manner and as per the officials from DDA. Although, the complete project involves development of stretches covering over 200 km but in the first phase a stretch of 36km will be developed. The authority has chosen three lines for development of the pathway in the first phase – Nilgai Line ranging from Badarpur to Malviya Nagar Metro Station (20.5 km); Peacock Line from Malviya Nagar Metro Station to Vasant Kunj Malls (8.5 km) and Bulbul Line from Chirag Dilli to Nehru Place and Iskon Temple (7 km).