The continuous traffic congestion at Dhaula Kuan has become a cause of trouble for Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. He highlights this issue whenever he travels to and from Delhi airport. Making a similar point on Tuesday, the minister advocated a ropeway transport system between Delhi and Gurugram up to Manesar to ease travel for those traveling on the route.

Speaking at the Ropeway Expo held at the Yashobhoomi Convention Center in Delhi’s Dwarka area, the Road Transport and Highways Minister said that till now ropeways have been used for religious tourism in India, but now the means of urban mass rapid transit has been explored. It’s time to install. Too.

‘rope walk’

Gadkari said the Dhaula Kuan road was designed for only 50,000 passenger car units (PCUs), but it will have to deal with 2 lakh PCUs.

“There is heavy traffic in Dhaula Kuan. If we have something which is above the ground then it will prevent pollution and help people as well as ease the traffic on the ground. It will be on a single pole and will take up very little space… The ropeway can carry 10,000 people per hour,” he said while addressing the expo.

The minister further said that the cost of construction of the metro is Rs 350 crore per kilometer. “And it is not possible to run metro everywhere in our country,” he said.

Later, speaking to News18, Gadkari said it was just an idea he shared. He said that this plan is still in his mind and there is nothing on paper yet.

“I want there to be one. It’s an idea that exists but nothing has been done on paper yet,” he said.

Speaking to News18, a ministry official said that they may consider ropeway connectivity between Delhi’s Hauz Khas and Haryana’s Manesar.

“The minister has advocated for this; We’ll see if we can work on it. All great projects were once just ideas. This is also the same,” said the officer.

Dhaula Kuan Puzzle

Those who travel between Delhi Airport and the city are aware of the perennial traffic congestion around the police station at Dhaula Kuan.

Gadkari, MP from Maharashtra’s Nagpur and Union minister, frequently travels in and out of Delhi.

Their complaints about traffic on this stretch date back to 2014-15.

In 2015, he had approved a study to find out the causes of the problem faced by several parts of the national capital after Dhaula Kuan was affected by the jam.

Gadkari had said in the Lok Sabha, “I bang my head… because I often get stuck for 40-45 minutes in Dhaula Kuan in south-west Delhi while coming or going from the airport.”

In 2017, he laid the foundation stone of a Rs 270 crore project to make the stretch between Dhaula Kuan and Indira Gandhi International Airport signal-free. This project was completed in 2019. But despite all these efforts, the jam continues to trouble the minister.

“I know and travel Delhi very little. But whenever I come from the airport, the area around Dhaula Kuan gives me the most pain. Even yesterday, I was stuck there,” he once said.