A 1.2 km long tunnel road corridor beneath Pragati Maidan is likely to be opened by November, said senior officials of the Delhi government’s public works department (PWD). Delhi government’s PWD is executing the work. The underground tunnel road corridor will help decongest one of the most traffic-intensive areas in Delhi. Once the tunnel opens, six underpasses are also part of the project to enable traffic to move seamlessly. This project has been working way behind schedule, and the PWD is not only yet to complete work on the tunnel but also have to get the required approvals to complete work on two of the six underpasses. Besides this, the works on major road repairs that the PWD will have to undertake on Bhairon Marg, Mathura Road, and Ring Road near project sites. By March 2019, the tunnel corridor and the six underground U-turns were to be completed. The same year, PWD set two new deadlines, first for May and then September. However, the department did not set a new deadline when it could not meet either of them. Senior officials said that the entire project would be opened in phases after trials, adding that almost 95% of work on the tunnel has been completed. Officials said though work on four underground U-turns is almost completed, the other two are stuck. By November, the main tunnel will be thrown open to traffic along with three other underpasses in the first phase. Officials said that after the second week of October trials, on this stretch would start, but only a bounded number of vehicles will be allowed. After the revamping of Pragati Maidan, the project was primarily designed to manage the projected growth in traffic. The tunnel road goes underneath Pragati Maidan, starting near the National Sports Club of India (NSCI), and ending on the ring road. The Rs 932 crore project will help decrease snarls by cutting east Delhi-bound traffic, according to PWD data. Image SourceAlso read: Underwater tunnel works of Mumbai’s coastal road project delayed