Travel from Faridabad to Greater Noida in 30 minutes

Bijendra Ahlawat

A bridge being constructed at a cost of Rs 315 crore over the Yamuna near Manjhawali village in Faridabad district will make travelling between Faridabad and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh quicker and comfortable. Seen as the first direct bridge to connect these cities, it is likely to reduce the travelling time to just half an hour from two hours at present. Commuters will be able to save fuel and time as at present they have to travel via Delhi to reach Noida or Greater Noida, says Krishan Pal Gurjar, local MP. The bridge is expected to be functional in March next year.  

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had laid the foundation stone of the project on August 15, 2014, but the construction work started only last year. While red tape associated with the process of land acquisition, clearances and sanction of required funds by the departments concerned and political wrangles are to be blamed for the four-year delay, the first phase of the project is nearly halfway complete. “We will be completing the first phase involving the construction of the main 630-metre bridge by October 31, 2019,” says Rahul Singh, Executive Engineer, PWD. 

He adds that while the first phase will cost around Rs 150 crore, out of which around Rs 106.22 crore will be spent on the bridge only. The remaining Rs 41.80 crore will be spent on the acquisition of land for the main passages on either side of the bridge. 

Rahul Singh says that the phase two of the project will involve improvement of the existing 19-km road in Faridabad district and the construction of bypasses in Chirsi, Kabulpur, and Manjhawali villages and a road connecting the bridge to the Uttar Pradesh border. The tentative cost of phase two will be Rs 165 crore. 

Though the state government had sanctioned Rs 37 crore as its share way back in November 2016, the work on the project was delayed despite the efforts of Krishan Pal Gurjar, Union Minister for State for Social Justice, who is said to be the brain behind it. While Gurjar has said that there is no major reason for the delay, critics blame it on a political tussle between various power groups. “As this bridge will be instrumental in providing a short and smooth passage between two major cities of the NCR escalating economic growth, it will also provide relief from overall traffic chaos and pollution in the region,” says Gurjar.