Vehicular movement to Connaught Place will be restricted on Sunday, 30 June and Monday, 1 July as the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) plans to execute its pedestrianisation plan, The Indian Express (IE) reported.
Vehicles will reportedly be given entry only through Janpath to inner circle, and from there they can access all parking lots. The exit will only be through Baba Kharak Singh Marg. Other entry and exit routes will be blocked for cars.
A senior official told IE that the NDMC’s earlier plan was to make the inner circle completely car-free, to focus on pedestrianising the blocks but giving access to all parking lots in the inner and outer circles to car users, which has now been tweaked.
President of the New Delhi Traders’ Association Atul Bhargava told The Indian Express that with this plan, the stretch from A to F blocks will be vehicle-free. He said this plan could be called pedestrian-friendly but not vehicle-free. Bhargava told IE that the exercise will be carried out as a pilot project.
The plan, however is at a discussion stage and final approval will be given on Wednesday.
According to IE, such an initiative was planned in 2017 as well but traders had then said that closing vehicular movement in the inner circle will choke the outer circle even further. Moreover, vehicles queuing up for entry into the limited parking lots will spill to the radial roads, they had said. They had also feared losing out on business.
NDMC Completes Projects Under Smart City Initiative
The New Delhi Municipal Council has completed 72 projects under the smart-city initiative, including installation of water ATMs, decentralised sewage treatment plants and underground bins, and 39 more projects are in the pipeline, reported PTI.
A total of 111 projects were identified under the initiative at a cost of Rs 1,576.20 crore and 72 have been completed, NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar said at a press conference.
Solar rooftop panels have also been installed on 92 buildings, along with 95 solar poles at several roundabouts as part of the renewable energy initiatives taken by the civic body.
Two solar bus queue shelters have also been installed and a solar tree has been put up in Connaught Place where leaves are working as solar panels and lighting the tree at night and also providing mobile charging facility.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and PTI)
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