The Hindu : New Delhi News : Entry points at Rafi Marg to also serve as subways

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Entry points at Rafi Marg to also serve as subways

By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI, FEB. 22. Those who find crossing Rafi Marg in the heart of New Delhi problematic right now only have to wait till June as the Delhi Metro has designed five entry points on both ends of the Central Secretariat station between Rail Bhavan and Krishi Bhavan in such a way that they double up as pedestrian subways.

A senior official of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that in view of the requirements of the pedestrians there would be entry points at the rotary near Red Cross. While one entrance would be from the Red Cross side, the others would be from Rail Bhavan and Shastri Bhavan. Also, while the rotary or roundabout will house several structures in a sunken area, there would be a roughly three metre high curved green area all around it to block its visibility from the surrounding so that the beauty of Lutyens' Delhi is not disturbed.

The entrances to the rotary would be designed in such a way that all the three access points also remain open to general pedestrians desirous of crossing the roads in the area. The paid area which is accessed with tickets would be segregated from the concourse level.

Likewise, at the other end of the station, the entry points on both sides of Rafi Marg will serve as the mouths for a subway that would lead people across the road as also into the system as per their desire. Incidentally, at this point a subway had been constructed by the New Delhi Municipal Council before the construction of the Delhi Metro began and it had to be consequently demolished for carrying out the Metro construction.

While all the underground stations will possess escalators and elevators, the official said the designing was being done in such a manner that more could be added later on as the Metro was keeping the passenger needs of 2021in mind while planning out its construction activities.

The Rafi Marg area which adjoins Parliament would also be given a facelift through beautification work which would involve work on the sidewalks as also the greens running alongsideIncidentally, the entry points to the Central Secretariat and Patel Chowk Metro stations would both be simple in keeping with the requirements in Lutyens' DelhiHowever, the Patel Chowk station -- where too the entrance points near Sanchar Bhavan would serve the role of subways for general pedestrians -- would also have a large parking area for around 700 cars.

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