Delhi’s flyover spaces are set for a public-utility makeover, with the Public Works Department planning to begin redevelopment beneath the ITO flyover with a cafeteria, parking facilities, landscaped areas and departmental workspaces.
A consultant has prepared the design for the ITO site, and the project is expected to move towards tendering, according to a senior Delhi government official. The proposal includes a PWD control room with seating for 40 to 50 people, conference rooms with cabins, ramps, landscaped areas and designated entry and exit points.
The ITO project is part of a wider PWD plan to upgrade spaces beneath 50 flyovers across the capital. These areas are frequently used for parking or become waste-dumping sites. The department’s stated objective is to convert them into organised public assets and facilities rather than leave them as neglected spaces beneath elevated roads.
“The idea is to use design to transform these corners into meaningful public assets,” a PWD official said. The official also said that some of these spaces had become places where “anti-social elements” took refuge. In locations where people already park cars, the official said, formalising the use of the land could allow the government to earn revenue from public property.
The proposed ITO facilities combine public-facing and administrative uses. The cafeteria, parking areas and landscaped sections are intended to bring organised activity to the space, while the control room, seating area and conference rooms would support PWD operations. The design also provides for controlled movement through planned entry and exit points and ramps.
Some flyover spaces in Delhi have already been adapted for other uses. Fenced parks have been developed beneath the Lajpat Nagar and Moti Nagar flyovers, while departmental offices operate beneath the Sukhdev Vihar and Indraprastha flyovers. These examples form part of the department’s broader effort to manage land created by elevated road infrastructure.
Officials have identified a longer list of 93 flyovers and elevated stretches for consideration. The locations include roads along the Ring Road and Outer Ring Road, as well as flyovers at Wazirabad, Ashram, Geeta Colony, Mukundpur and Rani Jhansi. The current upgrade plan covers 50 of these structures.
The list includes several long elevated road sections. The New RTR flyover measures 2,650 metres, while the Rani Jhansi flyover is 2,000 metres long and the Zakhira flyover measures 1,600 metres. Other identified structures include the 1,560-metre Azadpur flyover, the 1,500-metre Anand Vihar flyover, the 1,400-metre Munirka flyover, the 1,660-metre Naraina flyover and the 1,640-metre AIIMS flyover.
The Outer Ring Road elevated stretches under consideration range from 2,600 to 2,850 metres. The scale of these sites means that their treatment will involve more than isolated landscaping; each location will require defined access, maintenance arrangements and decisions on how public, parking and departmental uses are managed.
For the ITO site, the next stated step is tendering after the consultant’s design has been submitted. The Delhi PWD’s wider programme will determine which of the identified flyovers are taken up for similar redevelopment and how the spaces are ultimately operated.
