NEW DELHI: Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S Puri has inaugurated and dedicated to people of Delhi a skywalk and FOB at the junction of Sikandra Road, Mathura Road, Tilak Marg and Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg at ‘W’ point near Hans Bhavan.
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal, Member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi, Secretary MoHUA Durga Shankar Mishra, Chairman, NDMC Naresh Kumar, Vice-Chairman, DDA, Tarun Kapur and other officials were present on the occasion.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had, as part of the decongestion plan of Delhi roads, sanctioned an amount of Rs. 54.84 Cr. under UDF to decongest ‘W’ Point and provide easy and safe passage to pedestrian by way of providing a Skywalk at this junction.
The ITO Crossing and ‘W’ Point Junction are the two busiest crossings as far as pedestrian traffic is concerned. There are over 25 major offices and other institutions located in this area. Approximately 30,000 pedestrian cross various roads around ITO Crossing and ‘W’ Point.
A large network of public utilities has been constructed to connect all the sides of various roads (Tilak Marg, Sikandra Road, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg & Mathura Road) with Pragati Maidan Metro Station. The Foot Over Bridge (FOB) at Hans Bhawan has also been constructed to provide easy and safe movement to the pedestrians. The Skywalk with a length of 400m has a width of 5m and length of Loop and Ramp is 130m having width of 3m. The length of FOB at Hans Bhawan is 54m having width of 5m.
The Skywalk and FOB has been constructed in Steel Structure. The Granite Flooring and Stainless Steel Railing has been provided. The structure has Tensile Fabric roofing. The Skywalk shall have 6 passenger lift of 20 persons capacity and one lift of 16 person capacity. Solar PV modules, Wi-Fi, CCTV has been provided in Skywalk and FOB. The LED fittings for functional and architectural lighting have also been provided. The entire Skywalk has been covered under CCTV surveillance.
A police booth has also been constructed under the Skywalk for constant surveillance in the area. Public convenience has been provided at Mathura Road and near Hans Bhawan. Seven Glass lifts have been provided for pedestrian to ascend and descend, besides stair cases. There is enough space at ground floor at various locations which can be used for commercial purposes. Matching design has been adopted for the Foot Over Bridge constructed near Hans Bhawan.
Apart from the sky walk, the Central Government has taken several landmark decisions to make the lives of Delhiites more comfortable. One of the areas in which Delhiites suffer is the tremendous traffic congestion affecting efficient mobility.
In the year 2016, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had issued sanction for funding of six projects worth Rs. 1826.40 crore under the Urban Development Fund of Rs 1382.77 crore which aim at reducing traffic congestion and improve traffic flow in Delhi. On a review undertaken in October 2017 in the Ministry in view of the slow progress in these projects, it was decided that the projects where balance funding of 20% of the project cost was not forthcoming from Delhi government, the same may be funded by the DDA/ITPO i.e., 100% funding by the Central Government.
All the above projects then were put on a fast track and have achieved substantial progress during the last one year.
Brief Specifications of Skywalk and FOB:
| Sl.No. | Name | Length | Width |
| 1 | Skywalk at ‘W’ Point | 485 m | 5.0 m |
| 2 | Ramp & Loop | 130 m | 3.0 m |
| 3 | FOB at Hans Bhawan | 54 m | 5.0 m |