Phase - 3 Challenges

■ Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate

■ Janakpuri West - Botanical Graden

■ Majlis Park - Shiv Vihar

Anuj Dayal
Copyright @ Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.
First Edition :

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Published by:
Corporate Communications Department
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.
Website: www.delhimetrorail.com
Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge the assistance given to me in research, copy and production by Ms. Sushma Gaur
(JGM, CC), Mr. Tomojit Bhattacharjee (DGM, CC), Sandhya Sharma (Manager, CC) and Himangshu Sarmah
(Manager, CC) for this book.

Anuj Dayal
Foreword

The third phase of expansion of the Delhi Metro has

been one of its most challenging construction
assignments as it is undoubtedly one of the largest
ever infrastructure projects taken up anywhere in
India in an urban environment.
While the entire Phase 3 of the Delhi Metro spans
about 160 kilometres, its three main corridors – the Central Secretariat – Kashmere
Gate section, the Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor and the Majlis Park –
Shiv Vihar corridor have been covered in this book where various engineering
challenges and landmarks have been focused upon.
The Central Secretariat – Kashmere Gate section was primarily constructed in the
old Delhi area and the alignment passed through many heritage buildings and
other centuries old structures. It was a mammoth task to successfully complete
the section while taking care of the safety of the structures nearby.
The Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor passes through the arterial Outer
Ring Road of the national capital while the Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar section covers
the Ring Road. Both these sections are extremely crucial from the point of view of
connectivity and enormous engineering challenges were encountered during the
construction work since the alignments passed through very busy roads and
congested commercial and residential areas.
In this book, an attempt has been made to encapsulate all those challenges in a
language comprehensible to readers of all categories. I congratulate Mr. Anuj
Dayal and his team at the Corporate Communications department in DMRC for
this wonderful and informative compilation. Archiving of these engineering
achievements is very important so that future generations can also benefit. I wish
this publication all success.

Dr. Mangu Singh

Managing Director
Author's Remarks

Phase 3 of the Delhi Metro witnessed a transition in terms of leadership with the baton of this
fast expanding organisation being handed over to Dr. Mangu Singh from Dr. E Sreedharan.
Dr. Singh has successfully steered this massive phase of expansion, ensuring the completion
of work and deserves full credit for his innovative approach in tackling technological
challenges and firmness in dealing with the land acquisition hurdles which saw the largest
urban intervention in India after independence being successfully completed. This expansion
has brought the Delhi Metro on to the world map once again in terms of technological
advancement and has also steered the Delhi Metro on the path to soon become the fourth
largest Metro system in the world.
If the first two phases of the Delhi Metro laid the foundation of a robust mass transit system in
India's capital city, the third phase has been conceived in such a manner that the Metro has
now become accessible for almost all major localities of the national capital.
The third phase of the Delhi Metro project was originally supposed to be only 103 kilometres
but gradually increased in size with the Metro going to various parts of the National Capital
Region including Bahadurgarh, Ghaziabad, NOIDA, Ballabhgarh etc. which made the whole
project about 160 kilometres in length. All these corridors, in public perception, were always
seen as part of Phase 3, though many of these extensions were sanctioned in the later stages.
Thus seen in an overall perspective, the volume of work involved in Phase 3 actually almost
equalled the total work which was done by the DMRC in phases 1 and 2 put together in 12
and a half years.
The new Metro trains equipped with the latest technologies, signalling apparatus matched
with the best in the world and commuter amenities designed in tune with the changing times
made the third phase of Delhi Metro's expansion, one of the most challenging infrastructure
development projects anywhere in the contemporary world.
In this phase, work was taken up in an unprecedented 11 different corridors. Over 30
mammoth Tunnel Boring Machines were pressed into service and close to 30,000 men and
women of different backgrounds and nationalities came together to realise a dream for the
people of Delhi. As mentioned earlier, the corridors, did not remain confined within the
national capital, rather they spread far and wide covering many new corners of the NCR.
Over a million new passengers are expected to benefit from this expansion drive and as per a
study, over seven lakh vehicles are expected to be reduced everyday from the streets of Delhi
in 2018 because of the Metro services. Clearly, the benefits of the Delhi Metro will be much
beyond just providing better transportation options.
Out of all the corridors constructed as part of Phase 3, three corridors actually stand out
because of their importance as well as the innumerable challenges faced during their
construction work. While the Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate corridor passed through
old Delhi, the Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden and Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar corridors were
constructed to cater to the arterial Outer Ring Road and Ring Road of the city.
All these three corridors were extremely complicated from the perspective of both planning
and execution. These sections passed through the most central parts of the national capital
which were already very crowded and were grappling with issues such as overflowing
traffic. Carrying out construction in such areas without causing any major traffic diversions or
demolition of existing buildings and structures was a major challenge.
One of the major challenges that the Delhi Metro faced in Phase 3 was land acquisition since
the new land acquisition act was in place during this phase of the project which made it
extremely difficult to acquire land as the machinery to be put in place to implement this act
was still not in place and compensation levels were also expected to be much higher. In
comparison, in the earlier phases, DMRC was able to acquire the land needed for the project
reasonably smoothly under the provision of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 with the help of
the state government and good judicial support. DMRC, thus had to acquire private land in
Phase 3 through direct negotiation with individual land owners which was a difficult and
time consuming process.
Phase 3 also witnessed completely standalone new lines with new technology being used on
the 59 kilometre long Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar corridor and the 38 kilometre long line from
Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden. Lines such as these used completely new technology
such as the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) which enables trains to run in fully
automated modes with more frequency and introduction of platform screen doors etc.
In comparison most of the Phase 2 lines used the existing technology and were an extension of
the already constructed lines of Phase 1 such as the extensions of the yellow line to
Jahangirpuri, HUDA City Centre etc.
It may be pertinent also to mention that the composition of the contractors in Phase 3 also
underwent a change especially in civil construction with key contractors being led by the
Indian consortiums coming into the picture rather than foreign led consortiums witnessed
earlier, which carried with them a different set of needs, supervision and other managerial
issues which had to be addressed by the project managers in a completely different way. This
change led to many unforeseen issues cropping up which had to be resolved.
The mandatory sanctions for the proposed Phase 3 corridors started coming from 2011 in
phases. Actual construction work began in 2012 and the first corridor of the third phase of
expansion between Central Secretariat and Mandi House was inaugurated in 2014 within two
years. It is remarkable that the construction of about 160 kilometres of Metro lines has been
completed in such a short time time despite the fact that there have been innumerable
construction, technological and land acquisition related issues.
The quantum of underground work in this phase was even more than the combined length of
underground sections in first two phases of Delhi Metro's expansion. Phase 3 has close to 54
kilometres of underground corridors while phase 1 and 2 had a total of 47 kilometres.
The Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate corridor passed through an array of heritage
buildings, many of them of great historical importance. In addition, the old Delhi localities
through which the alignment passed had a number of extremely old structures and
constructing the Metro through such a congested locality was a massive challenge for
DMRC's engineers.
Immaculate care had to be taken to ensure that the heritage structures along the corridor faced
minimal impact by the Metro construction. All the mandatory regulations laid down by the
National Monuments Authority (NMA) also had to be taken care of as their prior approval
was mandatory for carrying out the work. Thus, during the tunnelling work, elaborate
instrumentation was done to monitor the progress of the TBMs as well as any possible impact
on the buildings above.
Even during construction work in the New Delhi areas such as Central Secretariat, Mandi
House, Janpath and ITO, there were many challenges. The traffic diversion of the busy ITO
intersection, passing below the Tilak Bridge railway line, construction near the busy Tibetan
Market were some other challenges that required very careful handling.
The tunnelling process also encountered many unexpected hindrances. Hard rock was found
between Jama Masjid and Delhi Gate which led to a breakdown of the Tunnel Boring Machine
(TBM) and a midshaft had to be created to retrieve the TBM. As mentioned earlier, the
presence of many dilapidated structures above had in any case made tunnelling very difficult.
The Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor was constructed to primarily cater to the
Outer Ring Road of the city. In addition, the corridor also connects the domestic terminal of
the Indira Gandhi International Airport and provides an additional connectivity to the
satellite city of NOIDA in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
This section was also difficult from the point of view of engineering and logistical challenges.
For example, at Hauz Khas, an interchange station had to be built about 27 metres below the
surface and the new tunnel had to pass below an already operational tunnel of the Metro.
At Kalindi Kunj, the third Yamuna bridge of the Metro that has come up also faced many
hurdles during its construction. The Okhla Barrage is located just a few metres away from the
bridge and on many occasions, men and material had to be removed from the site because of
the release of water from the barrage.
The Janakpuri West – Palam stretch had to be made underground because construction of an
elevated section there would have resulted in massive demolition of structures around and
diversion of vehicular traffic. In addition, there were land acquisition issues also at locations
such as Chirag Delhi, Okhla and Kalindi Kunj which almost threatened to delay the progress
of work. However, DMRC adopted very intelligent construction ideas and found solutions to
each of these challenges.
Even after the completion of civil work, there were unexpected hurdles. The Janakpuri West –
IGI Airport Terminal 1 section was almost ready but there was no connectivity with the depot
at Kalindi Kunj. Therefore, to start trial runs on this stretch and to expedite the opening of the
section, an entire six coach Metro train was lifted by cranes and placed on the tracks. DMRC
had taken a similar step on the Central Secretariat – Badarpur section of Phase 2 as well to start
operations in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Similarly, the Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar Metro corridor, which moves along the Ring Road of
the city was another challenging assignment. It is the Delhi Metro's longest ever corridor at 59
kilometres and passed through extremely congested residential as well as commercial
localities. On this section alone, 10 interchange stations had to be built and at multiple
locations, the alignment either passed below or over already operational Metro corridors.
At Dhaula Kuan, the viaduct passed over the viaduct of the Airport Express Line at a
height of 23.6 metres and is the highest point of the entire Delhi Metro network. The viaduct
also passed over a very busy road intersection and grade separator below without hampering
the road traffic even for a day. The operation needed meticulous planning and extremely
careful execution.
The new interchange facility at Rajouri Garden was also a major engineering challenge
because the alignment moved long the Ring Road and a very busy traffic intersection. The
new station is absolutely perpendicular to the existing Rajouri Garden station of the blue line
and the two have been connected with the help of a subway equipped with travelators.
The section from Mayapuri to Shakurpur comprises of four special spans, including three
steel spans and one cantilever construction span of 60 metres each. Construction of all four
special spans was daunting due to the heavy traffic on Ring Road. A steel span was
constructed as the Metro alignment was crossing over Delhi-Bhatinda rail line at Shakurbasti,
which is 19 metres high.
Major hurdles were also encountered while acquiring jhuggi clusters in areas such as Punjabi
Bagh and Naraina. A major chunk of land at Trilokpuri is still under acquisition and
resettlement issues where construction has still not taken place though DMRC has
constructed on both sides of this area and will provide single line services from both ends.
In this book titled, “Phase 3 Challenges”, an attempt has been made to encapsulate the
construction challenges encountered in the planning, construction and commissioning of
these three corridors which account for almost 100 kilometres of the total Phase 3 expansion of
the Delhi Metro.
Complex engineering challenges have been explained in an easy and lucid manner so that the
people can also appreciate the pains that have gone into the making of these historic Metro
corridors which will tremendously alter the mass transportation scenario of the national
capital like never before.
This present book is primarily a compilation of the civil engineering challenges encountered
in Phase 3. Another compendium detailing the innumerable highlights in Electrical and
Signalling will be compiled shortly. Smaller books with details about the other corridors of
the Delhi Metro will also be published in due course.
A word of appreciation must go to DMRC's team of extremely skilled engineers who have put
their heart and soul to make the project possible. The quantum of work in Delhi Metro's Phase
3 was almost equal to the combined work of the first two phases. No infrastructure project of
this scale had been executed within city limits in the past in India. It has taken an
unprecedented amount of hard work and dedication to complete this project.

Anuj Dayal
Executive Director
Corporate Communications, DMRC
Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate
Janakpuri West - Botanical Garden
Majlis Park - Shiv Vihar

Dhansa
Bus Stand

h
D es p
i m
ba Ca
r ga th
Du Sou

PROJECT DETAILS
Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate
• Total Length: 9.37 kms
• Underground: 9.37 kms
• Stations: 8
• Underground stations: 8
Rapid Metro is owned and ope
Janakpuri West - Botanical Garden Sec 42-43 Rapid Metro Gurugram Limite
• Total Length: 38.235 kms (including the Kalindi Kunj –
Botanical Garden portion of 3.962 kms)
• Elevated: 14.42 kms Sec 54 Chowk
• Underground: 23.80 kms
• Stations: 25
• Elevated stations: 10
• Underground stations: 15
Majlis Park - Shiv Vihar
• Total Length: 58.59 kms
• Elevated: 39.479 kms
• Underground: 19.117 kms
• Stations: 38
• Elevated stations: 26
• Underground stations: 12
 h
uk
hmus
p

erated by
Delta 1

ed.

Rapid Metro
Contents

Central Secretariat - Kashmere Gate

Introduction ... 01
Chapter - 1 The Work Begins; And So Do The Challenges ... 02
Chapter - 2 The Indian Solution For The American Center ... 04
Chapter - 3 Crossing The Bridge ... 05
Chapter - 4 Hard Rock In The Way ... 06
Chapter - 5 The Most Daunting Stretch: The Never-ending Challenges &
Engineering Feats Part – I ... 07
Chapter - 6 The Most Daunting Stretch: The Never-ending Challenges &
Engineering Feats Part – II ... 09
Chapter - 7 Evacuation Woes ... 12
Chapter - 8 Triple Interchange At Kashmere Gate ... 13
Chapter - 9 Contractor Trouble ... 15
Chapter - 10 The Road Ahead ... 17
Photo Gallery ... 18
Press Clippings ... 26

Janakpuri West - Botanical Garden

Introduction ... 35
Chapter - 1 Janakpuri West – Palam Stretch Made Underground ... 36
Chapter - 2 Tunneling Below Aravali Ranges ... 38
Chapter - 3 The Hauz Khas Interchange: Delhi Metro’s Underground Wonder ... 40
Chapter - 4 Land Acquisition – A Major Obstacle ... 43
Chapter - 5 Metro’s Intelligent Tunnelling to Pass Below Elevated Viaduct of
Kashmere Gate – Escorts Mujesar Corridor ... 45
Chapter - 6 Okhla NSIC - DMRC Delivers Despite Time Constraints ... 47
Chapter - 7 Care for the Environment ... 49
Chapter - 8 Metro's Giant Leap Over Railway Tracks and a Flyover ! ... 51
Chapter - 9 Domestic Airport Terminal also Enters Metro Map ... 52
Chapter -10 Trains Placed on Tracks with Cranes to Expedite Trial Runs ... 54
Chapter - 11 For the First Time in India, DMRC Completes Work of
Two Parallel Tunnels Simultaneously at Dabri Mor ... 56
Chapter - 12 Delhi’s Arterial Outer Ring Road Gets Many New Pedestrian Subways ... 57
Chapter - 13 Botanical Garden Becomes NCR’s First Interchange Metro Station ... 58
Chapter - 14 Delhi Metro’s Third Bridge Over Yamuna Comes Up at Kalindi Kunj ... 59
Photo Gallery ... 60
Press Clippings ... 66
Contents

Majlis Park - Shiv Vihar

Introduction ... 71
Chapter 1 Dhaula Kuan – The New Height of Success ... 72
Chapter 2 The Majlis Park Story ... 74
Chapter 3 Crossing NH 24 : Rebuilding ... 76
Chapter 4 Design of Ashram Station ... 78
Chapter 5 That One Night At Ashram Site ... 80
Chapter 6 Crossing the Railway Station at Anand Vihar Site ... 82
Chapter 7 DMRC’s Rare Feat at Karkarduma Metro Station ... 85
Chapter 8 Successful Launch of the Steel Structures at Punjabi Bagh
and Rajouri Garden ... 86
Chapter 9 Diversion of Box Drain from Mayapuri to Rajouri Garden ... 88
Chapter 10 INA – A Model Station for Phase 3 ... 89
Chapter 11 Tunneling Challenges - TBM Dragged through the
Naraina Vihar Metro Station ... 91
Chapter 12 Trilokpuri : The Missing Link in the Majlis Park - Shiv Vihar Corridor ... 92
Photo Gallery ... 94
Press Clippings ... 98
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Introduction
The Central Secretariat – Badarpur corridor was inaugurated for the people of Delhi on 3rd
October 2010. The opening of this corridor had marked the completion of Phase – II of the
Delhi Metro network.

At around the same time, Phase–III was also in the final stages of getting approvals from
the central and state government. The 9.37 kms long Central Secretariat – Kashmere Gate
corridor was one of the first corridors of Phase–III on which work began in May 2011.

This corridor is also called the Heritage Line because it is passing through that part of
Delhi which has a rich historical background with lots of heritage monuments that were
witness to its splendor in bygone days. Some of the monuments falling alongside its
alignment are Jantar Mantar, Ugrasen ki Baoli, Khooni Darwaza, Delhi Gate, Firoze Shah
Kotla, Shahi Sunehri Masjid, Lal Qila and Jama Masjid.

The corridor was completely underground with seven stations namely; Janpath, Mandi
House, ITO, Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid, Lal Qila and Kashmere Gate. It is an extension of the
current Line 6 from Central Secretariat to Badarpur (which has further been extended to
Faridabad) and will be completely built on Standard Gauge. Mandi House is the
interchange station for Line 3 and the Kashmere Gate station for Line 1 and Line 2.

This corridor connects the old Delhi areas like Daryaganj, Delhi Gate and Red Fort with
the business hub of Delhi at Janpath. Passing under extremely busy and congested
intersections like Janpath, ITO, Daryaganj and Kashmere Gate, this corridor will connect
major monuments of Old Delhi like Jama Masjid, Delhi Gate and Red Fort.

The Heritage Line was one of the shortest corridors of the Phase – III network in terms of
length, but turned out to be the Biggest Challenge of this Phase for DMRC.

Jantar Mantar
01
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 1

The Work Begins; and So Do the Challenges

Even before the construction of this corridor could start formally (the contract for the
Central Secretariat – Mandi House section had been awarded in April 2011 and contracts
for the remaining sections were in the finalization stages), the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI), an apex body responsible for archaeological research, conservation and
preservation of cultural monuments in the country, issued a stop work notice to Delhi
Metro’s proposed Janpath Station for violating Heritage Laws.

The National Monuments Authority (NMA) was given the task to check whether DMRC
was following all the norms pertaining to construction in the vicinity of Heritage
Monuments. The NMA finally granted clearance to DMRC to carry out construction in
around the protected sites on 21st January 2013.

The tunneling began 178 meters ahead of the operational Central Secretariat station with
the TBM being lowered at Chelmsford Club in January 2012. This marked the actual
beginning of Phase–III and the event was celebrated with much fanfare by the Metro staff.

Gradually all the tenders for this corridor were awarded and in 2012 construction on the
Heritage Line started in full swing.

The Janpath station was one of the first challenges of this corridor since the station was
situated adjacent to the extremely popular and busy Tibetan Market at Janpath. The
Tibetan Market is one of the major landmarks of the city and is frequented not only by the
locals but also by a lot of foreign tourists. Due to metro construction, the entrance to a
number of shops had to be blocked. The Tibetan Market Association approached the Metro
with their grievance, and Metro officials tried to resolve the issue as efficiently as possible.
The DMRC engineers barricaded the area in such a way so that minimum shops were
affected. DMRC also received full cooperation from the shopkeepers of the Tibetan Market.

Janpath Market
02
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Janpath Market

Today, with the Janpath station operational, the Tibetan Market has witnessed a surge in
the number of shopkeepers and visitors. One of the entry / exit of the station opens right
in front of the market providing easy access to shoppers.

DMRC got immense support from all shopkeepers during the entire construction period
resulting in smooth construction and tunneling activities in the area.

Similarly, for tunneling between Janpath and Mandi House, though it was earlier decided
to construct the Launching Shaft from the lawns of the Nepal Embassy, the same could not
happen as the Nepal Embassy did not grant permission for the same. The Launching
Shaft had to be constructed at the Mandi House roundabout, which was again a
challenging task.

DMRC had to encounter many such engineering challenges which were not anticipated
during the planning stages. Coupled with delays in receiving requisite NoCs and sanctions
to carry out construction alongwith encountering unanticipated hurdles, tunneling
through a difficult geographic terrain and employing out of the box engineering
techniques to complete the target, Delhi Metro’s engineers have set an example and
proved that they are the best. A few such problems / challenges will be discussed in detail
further in the book.

03
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 2

The Indian Solution for the American Center

As has already been mentioned in the previous chapter, tunneling close to Heritage sites like
Jantar Mantar and beneath a crowded market like Janpath was extremely challenging. The
Corridor was passing beneath important buildings like the Eastern and Western Courts, Nepal
Embassy and American Center.
The tunnels were built using Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs). Before tunneling beneath any
building, a pre-construction building condition survey is carried out to ascertain the age and
health of the building and whether it has been damaged in any way. As per the pre-construction
building survey report, the American Center was categorised in very slight condition – which
means that the building was in good condition with a strong foundation with only a few visible
hair cracks and was in a position to withstand the tunneling beneath it.
However, inspite of all surveys and detailed investigations, the depth of the foundation could
not be found. This was a challenge as without knowing the depth of the foundation of the
building, DMRC engineers could not decide the depth of the tunnel which would be passing
beneath the building. The structural and other drawings of the building also could not be found.
To measure the depth of the foundation of the American Center, two methods called the
‘Sophisticated Seismic Method’ and the ‘Parallel Seismic Method’ were used for investigation
and determination of the unknown depth of the piles below the ground level of the American
Center Building. Through these methods, the DMRC engineers could get an approximate idea of
the depth of the foundation of the building.
Both these methods were non – destructive, i.e. no damage to the building or complex was done
during this investigation. The investigation was also carried out under high security with only
two or three DMRC engineers allowed inside the premises.
Once the depth was determined, the tunneling began after installation of heavy instrumentation
like Stand Pipe Piezometer, Vibrating Wire, Piezometer, Magnetic Extensometer, Tilt Meter &
Tilt Plate, Crack Meter, Inclinometer, Seismograph, Building monitoring points, Soil settlement/
Pavement points and Bi-reflex Target along the alignment.
The TBM was operated in closed mode while tunneling under the American Center Building.
The closed mode is generally adopted in complex unsteady geological environment. The soil
beneath the building was
Sandy Silt and silty fine
sand. The working
chamber is filled with
conditioned excavated
material in closed mode.
All machine parts were
thoroughly checked
before entry under the
building so that the TBM
could cross without any
interruptions.

The American Center

04
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 3

Crossing The Bridge

DMRC faced another hurdle while crossing the Tilak Bridge on the Mandi House – ITO section.
This section was crossing the existing Blue Line. The distance between the ramp of the existing
line and the Tunnel Top of the under-construction tunnel was around 4.5 meters and tunneling
was done with speed restrictions. The major problem was that engineers got a block of only
two hours at night, when they could go inside the tunnel for structural monitoring. All the
readings for the day had to be taken in those two hours as during the day there was train
movement. The instruments used for ground and structure monitoring were: Multi Point
Borehole Extensometer, Stand Pipe Piezometer, Vibrating Wire, Piezometer, Crack Meter, Tilt
Plate, Soil/Pavement Point, Building Settlement Point and Bireflect Target.
The second major challenge was crossing beneath the Northern Railway Line popularly known
as Tilak Bridge. It is one of the busiest and strategic routes of the Northern Railway. The track
level of the Railway Line is at a distance of 15 meters from the tunnel top of Delhi Metro’s
tunnel and around 21 meters from the base of the tunnel.
For the Upline, work was stalled at Tilak Bridge from 22nd February 2013 to 23rd April 2013
because DMRC was awaiting the approval from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety
(CMRS). After the CMRS approval, work on Upline was stalled again at Tilak Bridge from 5th
May 2013 onwards because the ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NoC) from Indian Railways was
received on 14th August 2013 and tunneling work could only be resumed on 18th August 2013.
For the Downline, work was stalled at Tilak Bridge from 24th March 2013 to 2nd May 2013
because DMRC was awaiting CMRS approval. After CMRS approval, work on Downline was
stalled again at Tilak Bridge from 19th May 2013 onwards because NoC from Indian Railways
was not received. Clearance from Indian Railways was received on 14th August 2013 and
tunneling work was resumed on 31st August 2013.
The above permissions were granted by Indian Railways with the condition of speed
restriction. The Indian Railways also deputed dedicated Permanent Way personnel to monitor
the construction of the tunnel alongwith DMRC engineers while crossing beneath the bridge.
DMRC conducted 24 hours monitoring on the section to check for any kind of settlement.
DMRC also equipped itself with additional ballast fittings as a precautionary measure and
during the entire exercise DMRC had very close liaisoning with the Indian Railways.
The same procedure was followed for both the tunnels (Upline and Downline). The first
breakthrough at ITO was achieved on 18th September 2013 and the second tunnel breakthrough
was achieved on 01st October 2013.

Tilak Bridge
05
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 4

Hard Rock in the Way

Coming to the ITO – Delhi Gate section, the first major challenge of this section was
the presence of the 16th century old historical monument Khooni Darwaza constructed
by Sher Shah Suri, the then ruler of Delhi. It is located just half a kilometer from
Delhi Gate.

Since the DMRC tunnel was passing close to this monument, DMRC conducted 24
hours real time monitoring during tunneling in that area. DMRC adhered to the
guidelines mentioned by the National Monuments Authority (NMA) in this section.
The upline was 17 meters from the monument while the downline was 30 meters from
the monument.
th
The Downline tunneled through soft soil and achieved its breakthrough on 28 March
2014 after constructing 864 meters of tunnel. The Upline on the other hand
encountered Sudden Hard Rock and it stopped. A team from China was called to
break the rock from inside the chamber of the tunnel, but this exercise was
unsuccessful.

DMRC then employed a Pipe Pushing Technique. In this technique, two pipes of 1800
dia each were inserted from the Delhi Gate shaft towards the stuck TBM. Labour was
sent through these pipes inside the tunnel where there was rock to break away the
rock slowly and make way for the TBM to move forward. In this way, the TBM
crossed the portion where there was rock and reached the point where the pipes were
inserted. Then gradually by cutting the pipe meter by meter, the TBM reached the
shaft where it achieved breakthrough. This whole exercise delayed the tunneling
schedule by around 45 days.

Breakthrough on the Upline was achieved on 10th June 2014 after constructing a tunnel
of 861 meters.

Khooni Darwaza

06
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 5

The Most Daunting Stretch:

The Never-ending Challenges &
Engineering Feats Part - I
The Delhi Gate – Jama Masjid section can be called the ‘Stretch of Challenges’.
The first challenge came up when the DMRC had to pass close to the Sunehri Masjid
monument which again is a heritage site. The initial alignment was 103 meters from the Masjid,
but NMA wanted the tunnel wall to be 100 meters from the boundary wall of the Sunehri
Masjid only and not from the main structure of the Masjid. DMRC adhered to the NMA
guidelines and shifted the alignment accordingly.
The second challenge came up when DMRC came upon the ruins of an old structure called the
Akbarabadi Mosque while tunneling beneath Subhash Park. This issue was widely reported in
the media and was given a religious angle with the local leader and some people offering
Namaz at the site. DMRC decided to shift its alignment from that area. The area has now been
taken over by the Supreme Court and has been sealed.
The Jama Masjid station was shifted 45 meters laterally and 75 meters longitudinally. The
tunnel length was also laterally increased by 72 meters on both the tunnels.
The new alignment due to shifting was now in deviation with the alignment mentioned in the
original contract. The soil investigations and the geo technical surveys had been done by
DMRC for the original alignment and now because of this shifting, DMRC engineers had to
carry out construction in unfamiliar territory. This was the main reason why DMRC faced so
many unforeseen challenges while constructing this stretch. This also resulted in the work
getting affected for more than a year on this stretch.
The alignment had now to be shifted under the busy Netaji Subhash Marg and a major portion
of the tunnels were now beneath the densely populated residential area of Daryaganj. Earlier

07 Sunehri Masjid
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

the alignment was going under a non – residential stretch of open space. DMRC engineers did
not have access to the ground because the area was densely populated and housed very old
buildings and structures mostly in dilapidated conditions. Hence, no geo technical surveys
could be carried out.
The stretch is not only known for challenges but also for extraordinary feats. One such feat was
achieved when the complete TBM assembly was done at one go inside the tunnel for the
Upline. A 96 meters long completely assembled underground Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)
began tunneling work between Jama Masjid and Delhi Gate metro stations on 8th July 2013. This
was the longest TBM ever used in Delhi Metro project and weighed approx. 500 tonnes.
The first tunneling challenge also came up with this TBM. The TBM initially encountered hard
rock, but after 35 rings had been completed, the TBM encountered an old well adjacent to
Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in October 2013. This sudden change in ground parameters and
settlement values led to a chimney like formation which led to a 172 cu mt. cavity from the
ground level. DMRC engineers acted quickly and this issue was resolved in 24 hours, but after
crossing the hospital the TBM stopped because of encountering hard rock.
This TBM, now called TBM 3, remained stuck at this point from October 2013 to March 2016
(almost 2½ years) and was finally retrieved through a special shaft constructed at Golcha on
21st March 2016.
Originally only one TBM was to be used for constructing both the tunnels, but finally a total of
three TBMs had to be used to complete the tunneling between Delhi Gate and Jama Masjid.
This is how it happened.
The TBM 3 which was stuck on the upline could complete around 50% tunneling before
encountering tough geology and coming to a complete standstill. The cutter head of the TBM
was badly damaged due to the rock.
This unforeseen geology was encountered due to change in the original alignment. DMRC
planned to carry out repair on this TBM 3. The same TBM 3 was to construct the Downline.
Now, a second TBM (TBM 4) was called from another construction site to be deployed on the
Downline for tunneling between Jama Masjid and Delhi Gate. In order to save time while TBM
4 arrived, it was decided to construct the Downline tunnel using another method called the
New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) for 150 meters from Jama Masjid to Delhi Gate.
For 39 meters, DMRC decided to use drill and blast technique in NATM after taking due
permissions from local authorities and Delhi Police, because the geology had hard rock. When
the NATM reached the periphery of the old well encountered by TBM 3 near Kasturba Gandhi
Hospital, sewage water began pouring inside the tunnel. 4,000 bags of cement were used to
grout the face of the tunnel but this brought no change in the situation.
Then three boreholes of 15 meters were dug and concrete was poured to address the issue.
After this incident the NATM was abandoned. This NATM was used as a launch chamber for
lowering TBM 4.
But, the battle was only half won.

08
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 6

The Most Daunting Stretch:

The Never-ending Challenges &
Engineering Feats Part - II
TBM 4 from CC 27 Contract (R. K. Puram – IIT Section on the underconstruction
Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden Corridor) was moved to the Downline. This TBM
had achieved its breakthrough at Shankar Vihar and the cutter head of this TBM was
badly damaged because the TBM had encountered hard rock at Shankar Vihar. The
engineers had to carry out heavy refurbishments of the cutter head before the
commencement of
tunneling.

DMRC also needed space

to place the crane for
lowering TBM 4 in
Subhash Park. Since
Subhash Park had the
Akbarabadi mosque,
DMRC filed a petition
with the Supreme Court to
place the crane in that area
without disturbing the
structure. The Supreme
Court gave permission to
DMRC asking them to
push back the barricade to
place the crane.

After tunneling for a few

meters water started
gushing inside TBM 4
(near Asian Surgical
Shop). The engineers
could not reach the cutter
head of the TBM for
inspection. The cutter
head had to be grouted
with cement and cutter
replacement had to be

Metro Construction Site at Daryaganj

09
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

carried out. This entire exercise took one month extra, and TBM 4 could achieve its
th
breakthrough at Delhi Gate only on 11 March 2016.

To complete the tunneling on the Upline, another TBM (TBM 5) was lowered from
Delhi Gate Shaft (from where TBM 4 was retrieved) to tunnel from Delhi Gate till
Golcha – where TBM 3 was stuck. An additional shaft (the shaft was 9 meters x 6
meters in width and was approx. 21 meters deep) had been constructed at Golcha
because TBM 3 was stuck right below this location and this shaft was used to retrieve
TBM 3 after breakthrough of TBM 5.
th
TBM 5 achieved a breakthrough on 8 February 2016, after tunneling from Delhi Gate
to Golcha shaft.
th
On 9 February 2016, water started filling the Golcha shaft because an 1800 dia sewer
line of the MCD got damaged. Because of this, retrieval of TBM 5 got delayed.

Apart from these ground challenges, DMRC engineers also faced another unique
challenge which arose from using three different TBMs on one stretch.

TBM 3 and TBM 5 were from STEC (a Chinese construction company) with a 5.7 meter
diameter. TBM 4 was of Herrenknecht make with a diameter of 5.8 meter. To counter
the issue of different diameters of TBMs a 90 mm plate was welded inside TBM 3 and
TBM 5 to retain the uniformity of the tunnel.

Construction of the shaft at Golcha was a mammoth task in itself. Golcha is an

extremely congested and heavily populated area with large volume of traffic. Special
traffic permissions had to be taken to dig the shaft at Golcha. The digging of this shaft
took around 4 to 5 months. DMRC had to take care while digging the shaft because a
lot of utilities like water lines, sewer lines and telecom lines were encountered, some of
which had to be shifted to dig the shaft.

Because of settlement at the site in February 2016, a 500 tonne crane tilted. To remove
this crane, one smaller crane of 150 tonne was brought because of which the road
going from Delhi Gate to Jama Masjid had to be closed for the traffic. The traffic going
towards Jama Masjid was diverted towards Ring Road with the help of the Delhi
Traffic Police. The 500 tonne crane was dismantled and removed from the site and the
road was restored the same day.
st
Finally, the Tunnel Breakthrough for TBM 3 took place on 21 March 2016.

10
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Tunneling Plan Between

Mandi House to Jama Masjid

ORIGINAL PLAN
TBM 1
MANDI HOUSE ITO
TBM 2

TBM 2
ITO DELHI GATE
TBM 1

TBM 3
DELHI GATE JAMA MASJID
TBM 3

CHANGE IN PLAN
TBM 3 & TBM 5
DELHI GATE JAMA MASJID
TBM 4

11
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 7

Evacuation Woes
The Old Daryaganj area houses a number of dilapidated buildings and structures and
DMRC had to put up vertical supports in all structures during the tunneling process.
People also had to be evacuated from these buildings in a phase wise manner as a
precautionary measure. The first areas to be evacuated were David Street, Gopal
Mandir and Kucha Parmanand.

These people had to be evacuated twice during tunneling on both the tunnels. A total
of 2000 people were evacuated with around 650 people evacuated in a single go. They
were put up in various guest houses situated in the nearby areas and DMRC paid for
their lodging and food expenses. DMRC also repaired and restored their houses before
shifting the residents back. Shifting people was an extremely stupendous task as they
had to be convinced and satisfied fully before they agreed to do this.

Sunday Book Bazaar in Daryaganj

12
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 8

Triple Interchange at Kashmere Gate

The existing Kashmere Gate Metro Station is an extremely busy interchange station for the
Yellow Line and Red Line. With the coming up of the new station this would become the
interchange for three corridors – Red, Yellow and Violet. This will make the existing
Kashmere Gate Metro Station the first station of the Delhi Metro network to have three
interchanges.
The Kashmere Gate Metro Station will play a very important role in Multi Modal
Integration (MMI) of various transport systems. The Kashmere Gate intersection is very
close to ISBT, having interstate and DTC Bus stands and Metro stations connecting almost
every part of the City and further connecting it with Faridabad in Haryana, Ghaziabad in
UP in the near future and will thus have maximum ridership.
The station is also very close to the Old Delhi Railway station of the Northern Railway.
Very important Markets like Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazar, Sadar Bazar and many more
also bring more people and transport to the area.
There are also local and inter-state taxi and auto stands in the vicinity, apart from
cycle rickshaws and battery operated rickshaws which contribute to the local transport
in the area.
MMI at the station includes; Re-alignment of roads for smooth flow of traffic,
Construction of four level Parking cum Local bus stand, Re-location of bus stops,
Continuous pedestrian pathways, spaces for Autos/ Rickshaws, space for Vendors away
from the Passenger Entry/Exit points and provision of food courts.
This stretch has also passed beneath a number of heritage structures and historical
monuments like Kashmere Gate Monument, St. James Church, Dara Shikoh Library,
Lothian Bridge (Delhi – Shahdara Northern Railway Line), The Grand Post Office,
Magazine Gate and Ambedkar University.
The initial plan for the new station was infringing on the existing station and it was thus
decided to shift the alignment so that the existing station would not be disturbed.
The second challenge came
when during construction of
the Reversal facility for Metro
Trains was planned, a part of
Palna, an orphanage in the
area was to be partially
disrupted, as initially the
plan was to use Cut and
Cover technique for the
reversal tunnel, but in order
to avoid disturbing the
orphanage, only 110 meters
of the reversal was

Kashmere Gate Metro Station

13
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

constructed using the Cut and Cover while 220 meters had to be constructed using the
New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) which was not originally planned.
For the reversal at Kashmere Gate, DMRC also required land from Haryana Irrigation for
which approval was received only in February 2014.
Infringement on the existing station due to construction activities was kept to the
minimum. Gate No. 5 and 6 of the existing station were demolished and were
reconstructed alongwith the new station. In the South end of the existing station an
exhaust shaft was also shifted which was later restored.
The new station had a major engineering challenge. In the initial alignment, the new
station was infringing on the existing station. Since the existing station could not be
disturbed, the new station had to be curved at the Platform Level. The radius of the curve
is 1,000 meters and due to this, the downline is curved, while the upline is straight.
Because of the same reason (infringement with existing station), the platform of the
new station is also tapered. The width of the platform at the south end (Lal Qila side) is
14 meters and it narrows down at the North end to 8.5 meters.
The distance between the tunnel wall of the downline and Pile of the existing metro station
is 0.8 meters.
The new station will be connected to the existing station at four levels, three at
underground levels and one at the elevated concourse of the existing station with the
concourse of the new station with an escalator.
Another challenge occurred during the construction of a cross passage which had to be
built in the tunnels between Kashmere Gate and Lal Qila. This cross passage was directly
below the campus of the Indira Gandhi Technical University for Women at a depth of
18 meters from the ground level. While constructing this cross passage, water and muck
started gushing inside the
tunnel. Since the source
of water could not be
traced, the construction of
the cross passage had to
be abandoned. Instead an
escape shaft was
constructed from the
tunnel leading out into
the campus of the Indira
Gandhi Technical
University for Women.
The Escape Shaft is
20 meters deep and
consists of 134 steps.

View of Under Construction Kashmere Gate Station of Phase-III

14
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 9

Contractor Trouble
As it can be gauged from the previous chapters, this corridor faced a lot of unforeseen technical
and engineering challenges in terms of landscape, changes in alignment, passing beneath /
close to important buildings and heritage structures and the congested lanes of Old Delhi. Our
engineers had already braced themselves for dealing with such issues and with able support
from their contractors these challenges were overcome.
But on one stretch, the problem faced by our engineers was absolutely unique and this played a
major role in the delay of the section. The problem here was failure of the Contractor in
handling the work. The section being talked about here is the Lal Qila – Kashmere Gate Section,
with tunneling between Jama Masjid, Lal Qila and Kashmere Gate including the reversal and
the station buildings of Lal Qila and Kashmere Gate.
The Contract for this section was awarded on 6th March 2012 and the Notice to Proceed was
given to the Contractor on 12th March 2012. As per the agreement the lead partner had to
complete the task in 42 months, i.e by September 2015.
Immediately after the award of the Contract, DMRC engineers could sense that the work is not
proceeding as per schedule and the Contractor was constantly missing the deadlines set.
In a letter dated 16th October 2012, almost seven months after award of the contract, DMRC had
to write to the Director of the Contractor citing numerous delays in construction. In this letter
he has mentioned a delay of more than 100 days in starting the construction of D–Walls for
Kashmere Gate and Lal Qila stations, almost two months delay in starting excavation for the
launching shaft at Kashmere Gate and the status of the TBM and the schedule for tunneling
was unknown till this date. This letter also mentions that less number of people were deployed
by the Contractor and lack of responsibility on the part of those deployed.
This was one of the first among numerous letters and warnings sent to the Contractor on
various issues like procurement of TBMs to building of shafts and D-walls and delay in
designing and instrumentation. The Contractor was badly lagging behind schedule and failed
to adhere to the deadlines set by DMRC in all the key areas.
The Contractor was also frequently changing key personnel in the top management which
affected the continuity of the work. In a letter dated 13th February 2013, DMRC had asked the
Contractor to provide details regarding appointment of a new Director by the Contractor. The
appointment of the new Director was informed to DMRC by the Contractor in a letter dated
22nd October 2012.
The same issue had been raised by the then Chief Project Manager of DMRC, in his letters
dated 13th April 2013 and 7th September 2013. In the first letter he had expressed his
dissatisfaction on the number of personnel deployed by the Contractor as against the promised
number (10 engineers were promised and only 6 engineers were deployed). These too kept
changing frequently thereby affecting the continuity of the work. In his second letter, he raised
the issue of the absence of the Tunneling Project Manager and Tunneling Expat at the site and
the irregularity of other tunneling experts. Because of these reasons, the tunneling of the first
TBM got delayed as tunneling experts were not present to supervise the work.
Besides this, they also deployed inexperienced manpower who could not maintain the quality
of work as desired by DMRC. All these factors also affected the speed of the work. DMRC had
to revise the key deadlines again and again for various tasks and milestones related to the
project. This also resulted in escalation of the project cost.

15
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

View of Under Construction Kashmere Gate Station

The above instances happened just within a year of beginning the work and that too when the
construction was at its nascent stage and the real challenges were yet to come, keeping in view
the sensitive zone in which construction had to be carried out.
DMRC has communicated their grievances regarding such lapses to the contractor from time to
time. In fact, the Contractor was also issued a Show Cause Notice by DMRC on 11th December
2014 after they failed to pull up their socks after repeated reminders and reprimands. In this
Notice, DMRC had asked the Contractor to explain the details for the delay within 14 days and
had also warned them that non – compliance with the Notice would prompt DMRC to offload
part of the work from them.
Another Show Cause Notice was served to the Contractor on 27th February 2015 but the reply
submitted by the Contractor was found unsatisfactory and this company was debarred from
participating in any future tenders of DMRC for one year on 4th May 2015.
DMRC also offloaded some work from the Contractor which were a part of the initial contract
like work on ancillary buildings of Lal Qila Station and Kashmere Gate, entry /exits at
Kashmere Gate Station, work on shafts and interconnection with elevated stations between the
periods from 5th May 2015 to 31st October 2015. All this work had to be taken up by DMRC to
speed up the progress on this section. Despite all these steps, the Contractor did not adhere to
the revised deadlines given by DMRC.
There were also various instances of non – payment of dues by the Contractor to its Sub-
Contractors, despite the fact that the Contractor received payments from DMRC on time. This
often resulted in the Sub – Contractor stopping the work. The Contractor was reprimanded on
several occasions for this, but they failed to take these warnings seriously.
DMRC has built a reputation of being ahead of its deadlines in all its projects till date despite
all challenges. All these delays and lapses by the Contractor resulted in cost implications and
loss of goodwill of the organization as DMRC had to offload and take up many of these
tasks themselves.

16
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Chapter 10

The Road Ahead

This smallest stretch of Phase – III was filled with the maximum number of challenges
of every kind. Some problems were so unique, which DMRC engineers had neither
anticipated nor faced before. However, with able leadership of the top management
and guidance by the experienced Chief Project Managers, not forgetting the
knowledge and expertise of our engineers who came up with out of box and practical
solutions for all the problems, DMRC was able to commission this long awaited
Heritage Corridor.

The section between Central Secretariat – Mandi House was opened for the public on
th th
26 June 2014 and between Mandi House and ITO on 8 June 2015. The Trial Runs on
th
the Delhi Gate – Kashmere Gate section began on 10 August 2016. DMRC, after
obtaining all necessary clearances for opening of this section, opened this line for the
citizens of Delhi, who will be able to experience the charm of Old Delhi while taking a
ride on the Heritage Corridor.

Trial Run Begins on Delhi Metro's Heritage Line

17
Photo Gallery
 Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Artwork Depicting the Culture of Old Delhi

19
 Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Tunneling Milestones

20
 Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

96 Meters Long TBM Assembled Inside Tunnel

in One Go at Jama Masjid

21
 Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

First TBM of Phase – III Lowered at Chelmsford Club

22
 Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

Traffic Management and Neat Barricades to

Minimise Inconvenience to Public

23
 Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

TBM Retrieval at Golcha

24
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

25
Press Clippings
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

27
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

28
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

29
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

30
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

31
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

32
Central Secretariat Kashmere Gate

33
JANAKPURI WEST - BOTANICAL GARDEN
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Introduction
Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden Corridor
Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line
After the first two phases of the Delhi Metro, the Metro network in the National Capital
Region (NCR) had expanded to a substantial 190 kilometres. However, Delhi Metro’s
planning experts felt that the network was still insufficient to cater to the requirements of
this ever expanding urban agglomerate.
Therefore, for the third phase, it was planned to connect the arterial Ring Road and Outer
Ring Road of the city apart from additional extensions to old Delhi, satellite town of
Faridabad etc.
The Janakpuri West - Botanical Garden corridor, colour coded ‘Magenta’ is the Delhi
Metro’s new corridor along the city’s Outer Ring Road. The corridor starts from Janakpuri
West in west Delhi where it has an interchange with the already operational Dwarka –
NOIDA/ Vaishali blue line of the network.
Then it proceeds through Dabri, Dashrathpuri, Palam, Sadar Bazar, Domestic terminals of
the Indira Gandhi International Airport etc to reach Vasant Vihar in south Delhi. From
here, the corridor hits the outer Ring Road of the city and covers prominent localities such
as Munirka, RK Puram, IIT, Hauz Khas, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Greater Kailash,
Nehru Enclave along the arterial road. The corridor then enters Jamia Nagar to finally
connect with the Botanical Garden station of blue line after crossing the Yamuna.
This 38.23 kilometre long corridor is extremely crucial from the point of view of
connectivity because it covers a number of prominent landmarks along the way. The
domestic terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport will get Metro connectivity
for the first time and provide much needed relief to the domestic flyers of the city. The
corridor will also cover prominent educational institutions of the city such as the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Jamia Milia Islamia University and Amity University,
NOIDA.
The corridor will have three interchange stations in Janakpuri West, Hauz Khas and
Botanical Garden which will connect it with the already operational blue and yellow lines
of the Delhi Metro network. The following are the highlights of the corridor in a nutshell:
PROJECT DETAILS:
• Total Length: 38.235 kms (including the Kalindi Kunj – Botanical Garden portion of
3.962 kms)
• Elevated: 14.42 kms
• Underground: 23.80 kms
• Stations: 25
• Elevated stations: 10
• Underground stations: 15
• Estimated Ridership: 3,61,356 (From Janakpuri West to Kalindi Kunj), 46,054 (From
Kalindi Kunj to Botanical Garden)
Depot: Kalindi Kunj

35
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 1

Janakpuri West –
Palam Stretch Made Underground
Introduction

On this corridor, the stretch from Janakpuri West to Palam was originally conceived as an
elevated corridor. The stretch, roughly six kilometres in length was designed to pass
through extremely congested residential as well as commercial areas of West Delhi. In
addition, the construction of an elevated interchange facility at Janakpuri West on the busy
Najafgarh Road would have been another major challenge for the Delhi Metro team.

DMRC’s team of engineers realised that, apart from posing significant engineering
challenges, the construction of this particular elevated stretch would also cause a lot of
inconvenience to the people. A lot of houses would have to be demolished, roads diverted
and traffic on certain stretches would have to be restricted.

After rounds of brain storming, site visits and interactions with the residents of that area, a
decision was taken to make the stretch underground. While the decision was a major
financial burden for the organisation, the DMRC management decided to take this difficult
decision keeping in view the convenience of the residents of the area.

Why the Decision to go Underground?

The initially proposed elevated Metro stretch from Janakpuri West to Palam was converted
into an underground stretch keeping in view the following constraints:

• The elevated alignment included construction of five sharp curves of radius 223 metres
between Dashrathpuri and Janakpuri West involving permanent speed restrictions at
these locations.

• The proposed elevated alignment between Dashrathpuri and Palam required

construction of a ramp in the middle of a 20 metres wide road and there was no
alternative space left to compensate for the loss of width of the busy road.

• There were a large number of properties involved in the elevated alignment which
would have been demolished and rehabilitated.

• The elevated stations at Dabri Mor and Janakpuri West were proposed to be constructed
at a height of nearly 16 metres and 23 metres respectively. Construction of station
structures at such height without hampering road traffic below and the operational
station at Janakpuri West would have been difficult.

• Construction of an elevated Janakpuri West interchange station would have been a

massive challenge without obstructing traffic on the busy and congested Najafgarh
Road below. In addition, it would have been very difficult to block any of the entry/exit
points of the currently operational station there since the station on the blue line is one
of the main Metro stations of that area.

36
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

The New Underground Corridor

Keeping the above points in view, the alignment between Palam and Janakpuri West was
converted into an underground one. The alignment now has three underground stations at
Janakpuri West, Dabri Mor and Dashrathpuri before Palam against the four elevated
stations proposed originally in the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
The underground stretch is shorter approximately by around 708 mtrs against the earlier
proposed elevated corridor. The total distance between Palam and Janakpuri West is about
five kilometres.
The tunnelling on the stretch was also fraught with many challenges. At Janakpuri West,
two 676 metre long tunnels for up and down movement were proposed to be constructed
up to Vikaspuri for the reversal facility of trains using Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs).
The tunnels were to pass below the operational Janakpuri West Metro station as well as
about 50 structurally sensitive labour hutments in the area which were of very weak built.
To counter this challenge and ensure the safety of the station and the hutments above, a
detailed building condition survey of the elevated station and hutments were carried out.
Subsequently, a monitoring plan was prepared. Building settlement markers,
Inclinometers, Surface settlement markers were installed to monitor the condition of the
buildings and ground, during boring. The Tunnelling team was also constantly monitoring
the Earth Pressure, quantity of Grouting and Muck Disposal quantity during tunnelling to
ensure that boring was completed without any adverse effect to the structures.
As a result, there was no requirement to hamper the services on the busy blue line, which
is one of the arterial corridors of the Delhi Metro network and carries about eight lakh
people every day. The stretch also included a Crossover Tunnel Section of 100 metres
which was to be constructed using conventional methods. Therefore, in order to transfer
the TBM from one end of the Crossover to the other, 2 nos. push ram cylinders were used
to push the TBM shield (approx wt. 400 MT) for the stretch of 100 m.
This was another engineering landmark since the TBM shield was dragged from one point
to the other. Generally, TBMs are retrieved through custom made retrieval shafts and then
re-inserted through launching shafts in the new location. But such conventional
engineering would have involved construction of separate retrieval and launching shafts,
which would have required more land and displacement of properties above. In addition,
the process would have required a month each approximately for the retrieval and then
the launching of the TBM. To avoid these hassles, the TBM shield was dragged using push
ram cylinders.
Conclusion
The Janakpuri West – Palam stretch of this corridor must rank as one of those sections
where public convenience was given priority over innumerable engineering hurdles. Delhi
Metro is known for its pro people approach while planning and executing its projects and
this stretch is another glowing example of DMRC’s care for the people of the national
capital who are its biggest stakeholders.

37
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 2

Tunneling Below Aravali Ranges

Introduction

Over 23 kilometres of the Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor is underground.

While on a majority of the stretches, the corridor has gone underground because of the
presence of busy roads and congested areas above, between Shankar Vihar and
Vasant Vihar, the corridor has gone underground because of the Aravali Biodiversity
Park above.

During the planning of the corridor, DMRC’s engineers had to take into consideration
the fact that they had to conserve the flora and fauna of the Aravali Biodiversity Park
at any cost. Elevated construction here was out of question, as that would have posed
a threat to the environment. In addition, it would have been very difficult to get the
requisite clearances.

Therefore, a decision was taken to take the alignment underground below the Aravali
ranges. However, the tunnelling work was also not easy since highly complex rocky
terrain was found below the Aravalis and special arrangements had to be made to
carry out tunnelling in the area.

How the Challenge was Accomplished

The Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor passes below the Aravali Biodiversity
Park between the Shankar Vihar and Vasant Vihar Metro stations. It is a conserved
forest area in the Aravali ranges with rocky terrain. DMRC could not construct an
elevated section in the area as that would have caused heavy damage to the flora and
fauna in the park. Therefore, despite the highly complex rocky terrain a decision was
taken to construct a tunnel below the park.

The necessary permission for the construction of underground tunnel through this
Biodiversity Park had to be obtained from the Central Empowered Committee
constituted by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.

The tunneling on this section was started from Vasant Vihar to Shankar Vihar ramp on
a 1.08 kilometre long stretch in January, 2014. It was a special rock TBM procured from
M/s Herrenknecht, China. The special design features of this TBM included a
specially designed 18 inch disc cutter instead of normal size of 17 inch, cutter spacing
of 80 mm instead of normal spacing of 88 mm and cutter head having weight of 85 T
against normal weight of 65 T. The power of the hydraulic drivers for the TBM was
30% higher than normal TBM in mix strata and 300% higher than that for soil TBM.
Extensive Instrumentation was done for monitoring the structures and the terrain all

38
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

along the alignment during tunneling using ground settlement markers, tilt plates,
bi-reflex target etc.

However, the completion of such a long stretch of tunneling took an unduly long time
and the tunneling could be completed only by late 2015 after more than a year.
Therefore, in order to expedite the process of tunneling a retrieval shaft was
constructed inside the Biodiversity Park and two TBMs were inserted simultaneously
from Shankar Vihar and Vasant Vihar for retrieval inside the Biodiversity Park. The
tunneling stretch from Vasant Vihar was about 700 metres and the one from Shankar
Vihar was 400 metres.

Both the TBMs were inserted in November 2015 and finished tunneling in late 2016. In
this manner, DMRC had been able to significantly expedite the construction of the
tunnels through very difficult terrain.

Conclusion

DMRC has been carrying out tunnel construction for its corridors since 1998, but very
few stretches have posed such serious challenge to the Delhi Metro engineers as the
one below the Aravali ranges. It was a long stretch of over one kilometre and needed
meticulous planning and execution. As mentioned above, DMRC also changed its
strategy midway to ensure that the work was completed on time.

Earlier, in Phase 2 also, Delhi Metro had constructed a Metro tunnel below the Delhi
ridge. Then it had also used the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) for the
purpose and ensured that the flora and fauna of the area did not suffer.

39
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 3

The Hauz Khas Interchange:

Delhi Metro’s Underground Wonder
Introduction

Any construction work underground is always an engineering challenge. Construction

work below the surface requires precision in planning and absolute competence in
execution since even a minor error or oversight on the part of the engineers may lead
to disastrous results.

And when the underground construction work involves tunnelling below an already
operational Metro tunnel, and expansion of the adjacent Metro station into a major
interchange hub of the network, the challenges confronting the engineers obviously
increase manifolds.

The Hauz Khas interchange Metro station project of the third phase of Delhi Metro’s
expansion was taken up with such humongous challenges. The already operational
Hauz Khas Metro station on the Jahangirpuri – HUDA City Centre Metro corridor
(Yellow Line) had to be expanded into an interchange facility, the new tunnel had to
pass below an already functional Metro tunnel and all this had to be achieved without
hampering passenger services even for an hour on the yellow line.

To further add to the woes was the busy Outer Ring Road running adjacent to the
construction area. Being one of Delhi’s arterial roads, thousands of vehicles used the
road every hour and it was absolutely impossible to stop or divert traffic on such a
busy road even for short durations.

The Hauz Khas Interchange: A Boon for Urban Connectivity

The Hauz Khas Metro station has been turned into an interchange station in Phase 3
to facilitate inter-connectivity between the HUDA City Centre – Jahangirpuri (Yellow
Line) and the upcoming Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden Metro corridors
(Magenta Line).

The passengers coming from HUDA City Centre (Gurugram) on Yellow Line will be
able to get down at Hauz Khas and take a direct train to Botanical Garden in NOIDA.
Through this connectivity, the traveling time between Gurugram and NOIDA will be
brought down by at least half an hour.

The approximate time to commute between HUDA City Centre and Botanical Garden
will be about 50 minutes. Presently, a Metro journey from HUDA City Centre to
Botanical Garden in NOIDA takes about 1.5 hours with the interchange at
Rajiv Chowk.

40
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

In addition, passengers coming from the Gurugram side as well Central, Old and
North Delhi areas will now be able to change trains at Hauz Khas and go directly to
the domestic terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport on the same
Magenta corridor.

A footfall of about 1,69,414 passengers is expected at the station as per the Detailed
Project Report.

An Underground Wonder

As discussed earlier, construction of the station was a massive challenge for the Delhi
Metro team. Since it was an interchange facility, the engineers also had to ensure that
the inter connectivity between the old and the new portions of the Hauz Khas station
was seamless and comfortable.

Like all other interchange stations of the Delhi Metro network, this station also has
paid area to paid area connectivity between the new and the old Hauz Khas stations.

The new station has been connected with the presently operational station through a
ramp. The present Hauz Khas station starts near the Laxman Public school and
proceeds up to almost the median of the Outer Ring Road.

The present station at Hauz Khas is 17 mtrs deep. For the construction of the new
station, it was not possible to go below the existing station, as the foundation is
32 metres and there is the foundation of the flyover on Outer Ring Road also.

Therefore, if the new station had to be constructed below the existing station, we
would have to go deep up to about 42 metres, which would have been very difficult.
So, the new station has been built adjacent to the existing station at a depth of 29
metres with a length of 265 metres. It has been designed as a five level station
(rail – platform – intermediate – intermediate - concourse). Generally interchange
stations have three or in some cases four levels only.

A subway is connecting the new and the old stations. An old subway in the unpaid
area of the station has been converted into a paid subway connecting the old and the
new stations. It is about 40 metres long and 12 metres wide.

The AFC Gates, located at the concourse at the earlier station have been brought to the
ground level in the new interchange station. There is a two metre level difference on
the ramp between the old and the new station.

To prevent disturbance to the residents, sound barriers were installed at Hauz Khas.
These sound barriers were put all along the station box. These barriers led to about 32
to 35 percent reduction in noise. The adjacent residential area is Sarvapriya Vihar. As
sound barriers, puff sheets, which are sound absorbing material were installed at on
the inner side of the barricades. Similar barriers had also been put up at Vasant Vihar.

41
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Tunnel below a Tunnel: Another Engineering Landmark

Along with the interchange station, the underground corridor of the Janakpuri West –
Botanical Garden line also crisscrossed with the already operational Yellow Line of the
Delhi Metro network at Hauz Khas. Therefore, the tunnels of the new line are also
passing below those of the functional line.

In Phase 2, the tunnel of the Airport Express Line had passed below the two tier Rajiv
Chowk Metro station at a depth of about 45 metres. However, that apart such a feat
had never ever been achieved in Delhi Metro in its first two phases. In Phase 3, apart
from Hauz Khas, tunnels have been constructed below operational tunnels at three
other locations.

The new Metro tunnel at Hauz Khas is about 29 metres deep at a point just after the
station. We have passed three metres below the existing tunnel. Proper measures were
taken to prevent any movement of the existing tunnel. Settlement chances were
prevented through grouting. D Wall was constructed around the existing tunnel to
provide support while the new tunnel was being created. Adequate instrumentation to
monitor the movement of the existing tunnel was also done.

The other stretches where tunnels have been built under already operational Metro
tunnels are:

• Tunnel between Sarojini Nagar to INA on the Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar corridor
below the underground section of the Jahangirpuri – HUDA City Centre line
at INA.

• Tunnel between Indira Gandhi Domestic Airport (T1D) to Vasant Vihar on the
Janak Puri West – Botanical Garden corridor below the underground section of
the Airport Express Link near the Indira Gandhi International Airport
(Domestic terminals).

• Tunnel between Mandi House to ITO on the Central Secretariat – Kashmere Gate
corridor below the underground section of the NOIDA – Dwarka corridor (Blue
Line) at Mandi House.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it may be said that the Hauz Khas interchange station in many ways
reflects the tremendous construction challenges that DMRC’s engineers have faced in
carrying out the underground construction work of Phase 3. Because of the experience
gained in the first two phases of Metro construction in the city, they have been able to
tackle these challenges and carry out the expansion work while adhering to time and
budgetary constraints.

42
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 4

Land Acquisition – A Major Obstacle

Introduction

Land acquisition issues have often delayed Delhi Metro’s pace of work, but the DMRC
team has always worked hard to make up for the lost time and complete its projects
within schedule. On this particular corridor also, unavailability of land posed a threat
to the completion of work. On multiple stretches, land could not be acquired and the
contractors could not begin work. However, the Delhi Metro engineers showed
exemplary dedication to make up for the time lost.

There were stretches where, the necessary land for construction work could not be
arranged on time. These areas were the Chirag Delhi Metro station and the Kalindi
Kunj depot. While at Chirag Delhi the land had to be acquired from the Delhi
Development Authority, at Kalindi Kunj, the matter is still subjudice.

Chirag Delhi

The Chirag Delhi station on the Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor is located
at the Chirag Delhi intersection on the busy outer Ring Road. As per the DPR, the
station will cater to approximately 20,000 passengers every day after completion. The
major catchment areas of the station are Chirag Delhi, Masjid Moth, Panchsheel
Enclave etc.

However, the construction work of the station, slated to start in 2012, was substantially
delayed because a portion of the Chirag nursery, run by DDA had to be acquired by
DMRC. The acquisition of the nursery land was completed only by August, 2013
leading to a delay of a year. The reasons for the acquisition of the land were
largely procedural. There were also a few NGOs who were against the acquisition
of the nursery.

As per its agreement with DDA, DMRC will hand over about 75 percent of the 22,000
square meter land acquired from the nursery after the necessary backfilling and
greening. Approximately, 25 percent of the land will be retained for ancillary
buildings, one entry/exit structure etc.

Apart from the Chirag nursery, land has also been acquired from DDA at Masjid Moth
and from PWD at Panchsheel Enclave.

Kalindi Kunj Metro Depot

About 22.5 hectares of land was requisitioned for the construction of the depot out of
which about 50 percent only could become available. While the land was allotted by
DDA, an illegal colony is occupying the allotted DDA land. The matter is now
subjudice in the Delhi High Court.

43
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Since the available land was insufficient to construct all the major components of the
depot, a decision was taken to construct elevated decks in Jasola Vihar to stable the
trains. For the same, a 1.3 kilometre long and 30-40 metres wide deck for stabling lines
has been constructed at Jasola Vihar near Kalindi Kunj on an elevated deck about 13 to
14 metres from the ground, where the trains operating on this section are stabled.

In the main depot area at Kalindi Kunj, the Auto Washing plant, for the cleaning
of the trains, has also been set up at on an elevated deck for effective space
management. A similar facility had earlier been set up at the Sultanpur depot in Phase
2 due to space constraints.

This facility can accommodate 27 trains and the Inspection Bay would be able to hold
six to eight trains at a time. In addition, another elevated deck for stabling additional
trains in the future is also being planned.

Conclusion

Acquisition of land is the most important prerequisite for the timely completion of a
Metro project. If the land is not available, Metro corridors cannot be constructed even
if all the other necessary resources are in place. On this corridor, Delhi Metro’s
engineers showed exemplary management skills to negotiate with multiple agencies
and acquire the land.

44
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 5

Metro’s Intelligent
Tunnelling to Pass Below Elevated Viaduct of
Kashmere Gate – Escorts Mujesar Corridor
Introduction

DMRC has used the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) to carry out tunneling
work between Kalkaji Mandir and NSIC Okhla on this corridor to pass below the
presently operational Nehru Place – Kalkaji elevated section of the Kashmere Gate –
Escorts Mujesar Metro corridor (Violet Line).

The tunnel between Kalkaji Mandir and NSIC Okhla passes below piers 135 and 136 of
the violet line and the distance between the two piers is 28 metres. It would have been
impossible to construct twin tunnels within such a short space. Therefore, a decision
was taken to construct a single tube twin tunnel through which both the tracks could
pass using the NATM technology.

Moreover, tunneling was required for only a short stretch of 176 metres. Therefore, it
would have been inconvenient and time consuming to insert a Tunnel Boring Machine
(TBM) and construct separate shafts for insertion and retrieval of the TBM etc.

The NATM Tunnel at Kalkaji Mandir

• The NATM Tunnel is 176 metres long and is placed between the Kalkaji Mandir
and the NSIC Okhla Metro stations.

• The Average Depth of the Tunnel is 20.5 metres from the ground level.

• The finished dia of the tunnel is 10.7 metres.

• It is a single tube twin tunnel though which both the tracks are passing.

• The crown level of the tunnel excavation is approximately 9.4 metres below the
base of the piers.

• For passing below the piers, specially designed custom made bolts were installed
which held the soil.

• Round the clock monitoring of the displacement of soil strata was done during
construction with the help of inclinometers, extensometer, bi-reflex targets, surface
settlement points, gas monitors etc.

• Permission had to be obtained from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety

(CMRS) for passing below the Metro viaduct.

45
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

What is NATM?

The full form of NATM is - New Austrian Tunnelling Method. This is the conventional
mode of tunnel excavation and is also known as sequential excavation method. It was
first used by Mr. Rabcewicz in 1962 in Austria.

In DMRC, it has been earlier used at Chawri Bazar (Phase 1), Buddha Jayanti Park and
Saket (Phase 2). In Phase 3, NATM has also been used at Kashmere Gate. In the
present era, NATM is generally used in areas where tunnelling through Tunnel Boring
Machines is not possible.

NATM technology involves tunneling through mechanical excavation or controlled

blasting. In this method, initially the earth is excavated and a primary lining of
shotcrete, steel/ lattice girders, wire mesh and rock bolts are applied for stabilization
of soil as per geological strata. Here, M-25 spray concrete has been used in the process.

Later, a final concrete lining using M-40 grade of concrete was done which was 400
mm in depth. Every movement of the surface during excavation was measured using
sophisticated instruments such as inclinometer, extensometer, load cell etc.

Underground Metro Tunnels Passing below Operational Elevated Viaducts

Apart from Kalkaji Mandir, the underground corridors of Phase 3 have passed below
the already operational elevated sections of the Delhi Metro at three more corridors on
the Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar section:

• At Azadpur – with the Samaypur Badli – HUDA City Centre corridor

(Line 2 - Yellow)

• At Netaji Subhash Place – with the Rithala – Dilshad Garden corridor

(Line 1 - Red)

• At Lajpat Nagar – with the Kashmere Gate – Escorts Mujesar corridor (Line 6 -
Violet)

Conclusion

Delhi Metro’s use of the NATM technology at Kalkaji Mandir is a classic example of
intelligent tunnelling by the Delhi Metro’s engineers. Since it was a small stretch which
had to pass below already operational viaducts, this decision to go for NATM
technology was taken which helped DMRC in completing the work within schedule.

46
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 6

Okhla NSIC –
DMRC Delivers Despite Time Constraints
Introduction

The Okhla NSIC Metro station on the Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden section is one
of Phase 3’s most important stations. The station is located on the Outer Ring Road on
the threshold of the Modi Mill crossing. The Okhla Industrial Area, Okhla wholesale
vegetable market, Okhla Railway station are all within the vicinity of the station.
Therefore, when the land for the station could not be acquired and the issue went into
litigation, uncertainty loomed over the timely completion of the station. However,
professional project management ensured that the station could be completed on time
despite the constraints.

Land Acquisition Issues

The location where the station is located had a few handloom/ artefact factories. There
were about six occupants who ran their businesses from that location. The occupants
had approached the Delhi High Court on the issue. However, Delhi Metro negotiated
with the stakeholders and the land became available only in September, 2014 causing a
delay of about two years.

Overcoming the Challenges

• Initially, the Okhla NSIC station was part of a package of six elevated stations from
Okhla NSIC till Kalindi Kunj. However, work began on all other stretches in
December, 2012 while the Okhla NSIC station’s work could not be started due to
land acquisition delays. Therefore, when the land could be acquired two years
later, it was brought out of the purview of the earlier contract package and a
separate exclusive tender for this station was floated. This was done to ensure that
the contractor concentrated only on this station. This management decision helped
a lot in expediting the progress of work.

• The occupants (both owners and tenants) of that area were convinced that an
additional floor would be erected above the station premises and they would be
allotted space there (though only on payment of the construction cost). This
decision also helped a lot in avoiding lengthy legal hassles and at least the
construction work could be started.

47
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Other Challenges

• After the beginning of work, Delhi Metro’s engineers encountered three gravity
ducts which were in precarious condition. The gravity ducts were then repaired
and strengthened by DMRC so that the work could progress.

• Six 220 kv Delhi Transco Limited cables also had to be relocated for the
construction work of the station.

Station Highlights

• Okhla NSIC is one of Delhi Metro’s first stations to be developed as per the revised
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) norms. 93 Studio apartments are to be built
within the station campus.

• There will be additional Property Development provisions also inside the station
building. While a portion will be allotted on payment basis to the original
owners of the station land, rest will be leased/rented as per DMRC’s property
business rules.

• There will be the provision for Multi Modal Integration (MMI) at this station also.
There will be pick and drop spaces for autorickshaws, taxis etc.

48
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 7

Care for the Environment

Introduction

Care for the environment has been one of the cornerstones of Delhi Metro’s
functioning. Carrying its legacy forward, the nine new Metro stations between Kalkaji
Mandir and Botanical Garden have also been certified as ‘Platinum’ by the Indian
Green Building Council.
These stations are designed with specific provisions for the conservation of energy as
well as more CO2 saving, water saving, waste management, energy management and
optimized building design to reduce the size of station box and hence lesser use of
construction materials.
The stations on this corridor also have the following features:
Energy Efficient Equipments
• Lighting controls by Occupancy Sensors (for manned rooms) and Door Limit
Switch (for unmanned rooms) have been provided at Kalkaji Mandir station.
• Carbon Dioxide sensors with VFD based Fresh air fans have been provided for
optimum mixing fresh air at Kalkaji Mandir.
• VRV/VRF type air conditioning systems have been used in the elevated stations
with Halon free refrigerants
• Energy Efficient Air Conditioning by use of variable frequency drives and chiller
plant manager at Kalkaji Mandir station.
• Energy metering at various end uses of the electricity.
• Variable Voltage Variable Frequency Drive (VVVF) and Regenerative Braking
technology is used in lifts and escalators which consume less energy compared to
conventional lifts and escalators.
• 50% reduction in Lighting Power Density over the baseline has been achieved by
using efficient lighting systems such as LED.
Use of Renewable Solar Power
Solar plants of 908 kWp have been installed on the roofs of the nine stations between
Kalkaji Mandir and Botanical Garden of this section. Further as a pilot project, a plant
of 25 kWp capacity has been installed on the Foot Over Bridge providing connectivity
between the Magenta and Violet line stations of Kalkaji Mandir. In addition, 1,077
kWp has been installed on the roof tops of Kalindi Kunj depot.
DMRC also has plans to install a solar plant of approximately 1.5 MWp capacity on the
elevated stabling lines at Jasola. This installation is unique since the raised structure is

49
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

being created only for the purpose of harnessing solar energy and no roof sheet is
being provided, instead solar panels will look like a virtual roof of the shed.

In order to mitigate carbon footprints, DMRC is trying to maximise the use of

renewable energy, by utilising all possible rooftops for harnessing solar energy. For
this, a target of 20 MWp generation capacity was set for August, 2017 but DMRC
managed to achieve the target in July, 2017.

Some other Environment Friendly Measures

Water Efficient Fixtures: Low water consuming fixtures like Dual-flush WC, low flow
taps etc. and waterless urinals have been installed at the stations. These Fixtures help
reduce water consumption in the building without compromising on the occupants
water requirements.

Water Conservation: To conserve the rainwater, 100% of rainfall is being captured by

Rain Water Harvesting Structure. Rain Water harvesting pit has been designed to
capture the rainfall on viaduct also and being recharged to ground so that water table
is maintained.

Reduced Heat Island Effect: Heat island effect contributes in increasing temperature
of the microclimate of the building and reduced energy efficiency of a building. To
reduce this effect, the roofs of the stations will be either finished with high reflective
material or/and landscaped with vegetation.

Landscape Plant Species: The plant species used for the landscaping (wherever
possible of the stations are either native or adaptive. These consume less water and
help in increased water efficiency of the building.

Low VOC Paints: VOC are chemicals, which exist in paints, adhesives, sealants etc
and produce bad odour. These VOC also impact on the health of occupants if
subjected for long durations. To reduce the adverse health effect and improve
quality of indoor air, only low VOC paints, adhesives and sealants are being used in
the buildings.

Recycled and Local Materials: Part of construction material is procured locally so that
cost of transportation and thereof Green House Gas emission is minimized.

Waste management: C&D waste generated during construction is effectively managed

and sent for recycling to authorized recycler and reused up to maximum extent.
Provision of organic & inorganic waste segregation bins have been made so that they
can be managed in a proper way.

50
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 8

Metro’s Giant Leap Over

Railway Tracks and a Flyover!
Introduction
The greatest challenge of constructing Metro networks in congested cities like Delhi is that, the
new infrastructure has to be created amidst the existing roads and buildings. In most cases,
there is almost no separate land available for construction work and the viaducts and tunnels
have to pass over or below the existing infrastructure.
At Okhla, as the viaduct comes out of the Okhla NSIC station, it has to pass over the Delhi –
Mumbai railway tracks, the Modi Mill flyover as well as the carriageways of the Mathura Road
over which the flyover goes. To add to the challenge, the Modi Mill flyover has two separate
loops leading to the two carriageways of Mathura Road. Therefore, taking the Metro through
this particular stretch was a major challenge for the engineers.
How It was Accomplished?
The elevated viaduct of the under construction Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor of
the Delhi Metro passes over the Delhi – Mumbai railway tracks as well as the Modi Mill flyover
between the Okhla NSIC and Sukhdev Vihar Metro stations.
Between these two Metro stations, which are located at a distance of about one kilometre from
each other, the Delhi Metro engineers encountered two major construction related challenges,
which were, crossing the ever busy Delhi – Mumbai railway corridor as well as the two
important loops of the Modi Mill flyover.
For crossing the railway corridor, which consists of five tracks, DMRC installed a steel bridge,
as the installation of such a bridge caused minimal disruption to the railway operations below.
This bridge has crossed the tracks at a height of about 17 metres.
After crossing the railway tracks, the viaduct has also passed over two loops of the Modi Mill
flyover which lead to the two sides of the Mathura Road below (towards Ashram and towards
Badarpur). The construction work over both these crucial loops was carried out without
causing any disruption to the flow of traffic below.
While the length of the span crossing over the first loop towards Ashram is 34 metres, the
length of the span over the second loop towards Badarpur is 37 metres. Segmental launching
technology was used for carrying out construction on this stretch. The viaduct has come up at
both the locations at a height of 17 metres.
As the alignment of the corridor passed along the Modi Mill flyover, the area available to the
engineers for constructing the viaduct was also very narrow. Despite such space constraint, the
Modi Mill flyover was kept entirely available for traffic.
Conclusion
This was not the first occasion when the Delhi Metro viaduct had crossed railway tracks.
However, probably this was the first ever time when the viaduct had to pass over railway
tracks as well as a busy flyover almost simultaneously and credit must be given to the
engineers for ensuring that the work could be completed without hampering any traffic on the
flyover or the railway tracks below.

51
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 9

Domestic Airport
Terminal also Enters Metro Map
Introduction
One of the great benefits of Delhi Metro’s Phase 3 is that the domestic terminals of the
Indira Gandhi Airport will also get Metro connectivity, a requirement often felt by the
city’s domestic air passengers.
The presently operational Airport Express Link provides Metro connectivity to the
new T3 terminal of the Airport from which all international carriers and all premium
domestic airlines fly. However, till now there was no Metro connectivity for the
domestic terminals from which the low cost operators fly.
The Terminal 1 - Indira Gandhi International Airport Metro station is an
underground station which has come up on the Janakpuri West – Kalindi Kunj -
Botanical Garden corridor.
A Boon for Passengers
The station will help the domestic passengers in a major way. Let us take a look:
• From South Delhi : Direct connectivity from Kalkaji, Nehru Place, Hauz Khas,
Munirka etc (Approx 20 minutes from Nehru Place).
• From East Delhi: Passengers coming from Vaishali (Ghaziabad), Anand Vihar,
Lakshmi Nagar etc can take Line 3 and 4 and change at Janakpuri West (Approx
50 minutes from Lakshmi Nagar).
• From West Delhi: Passengers coming from Punjabi Bagh, NS Place etc can take the
new Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar corridor, change at Rajouri Garden, then take Line 3
and reach Janakpuri West to avail the services on this corridor (Approx 30 minutes
from Punjabi Bagh West).
• From North and Central Delhi: Passengers coming from Vishwavidyalaya and
Central Delhi areas can take Line 2, reach Hauz Khas and board the train to the
IGD Airport (Approx 40 minutes from Vishwavidyalaya).
• From NOIDA: Direct connectivity from Botanical Garden in NOIDA (Approx 35
minutes from Botanical Garden).
Interchanges on this corridor:
- Janakpuri West : With Line 3
- Hauz Khas : With Line 2
- Kalkaji Mandir : With Line 6
- Botanical Garden: With Line 3

52
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

An engineering masterpiece
The Terminal 1 – IGI Airport station also stands out for its engineering achievements.
It has a number of landmarks making it one of the most unique stations of Metro’s
third phase of expansion:
• The station has reversal facility for trains so that trains can be reversed from this
station to facilitate better frequency of trains.
• The station box is among the longest with a length of 312.2 metres Normally,
underground stations are around 260 metres.
• The station has five entry/exit points. While there are subways (both 100+ metres
in length) – one to the arrival and another one to the departure areas, another entry
caters to Mehram Nagar, which is an adjacent residential area. The fourth entry/
exit point is near the police station building and the fifth is just before the ramp to
the departure area of the airport.
• Depth of the station is approximately 16 metres.
Design of the Station
• The station has a bright interior with a use of granite stone, stainless steel finishes,
colourful pattern with ceramic tiles.
• Ceramic tiles have been used for the interiors. These tiles are easy to maintain and
add colour to the finishes. They are also readily available in the market in different
patterns and sizes.
• Glazed ceramic Jali work has also been used for covering utility services like
ancillary buildings, chiller plants and side panels of entry/exit structures. The Jali
work also provides better ventilation and day light.
Engineering Challenges
DMRC’s engineers encountered hard rock during the excavation for this station.
However, on one side of the site was the busy Terminal 1 of the IGI Airport and on the
other was the congested Mehram Nagar locality which had a number of buildings in
precarious condition.
Controlled blasting was carried out at the site and various monitoring equipments
were installed to check the condition of the nearby buildings. The operations or traffic
flow at the nearby airport terminal was not even allowed to be hampered for a day.

53
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 10

Trains Placed on Tracks

with Cranes to Expedite Trial Runs
Introduction
It is often said that extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary decisions. DMRC
management had to take a very courageous decision of placing an entire six coach train on the
tracks at Sadar Bazar with the help of cranes so that trial runs could be started on that section.
The depot for the Magenta line is at Kalindi Kunj. In the winter of 2016, the section from
Janakpuri West to Terminal 1 – IGI Airport was ready for trials but trains could not be brought
there from the Kalindi Kunj depot since the intermittent section connecting the depot and this
particular stretch was still in the final stages of construction. Therefore, the decision to literally
lift a train for placement on the tracks was taken.
A Meticulous Operation
To expedite the process of conducting trial runs on the Janakpuri West – Terminal One IGI
Airport section of Delhi Metro’s Magenta line, DMRC unloaded the first six coach train of this
section on the tracks with the help of Cranes and Trailers.
The six coach train was unloaded on the ramp near Sadar Bazar Metro station through a
carefully planned operation, in which the coaches were lowered near the ramp (the location
where the alignment goes underground from elevated) and positioned on the tracks with the
help of special high capacity cranes and trailers.
The process needed absolute precision to avoid any physical damage to the coaches or the civil
structure. The decision to unload the train was taken to ensure the timely beginning of trial
runs on this particular section.
This step has helped a lot in expediting the commissioning of services on this line. Since, the
Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) technology has been implemented for the first
time, the commissioning time for signalling took longer and hence, it was decided to take up
commissioning work in multiple sections side by side.
In a similar operation, a four coach train was lowered on a ramp near Lajpat Nagar in 2010 to
begin the trial runs on the Central Secretariat – Badarpur Violet corridor. However, this
particular operation was more challenging as six coaches were being placed this time instead of
four (in 2010).
To unload the train in such a section without depot connectivity, DMRC had to choose a
location, where the Metro corridor emerges out of an underground section towards an elevated
one through a ramp, so that there is no requirement to lift the coaches too high. The
requirement of boom length and the area for placement of crane increases significantly with the
height to which the coach is needed to be lifted. Such locations are not easily available. Besides,
there is constraint of blocking the road for traffic, during the period of such operations.
Train Composition, Machinery required and Method Statement for Unloading of Trains on
Main Line was as under-
A train was brought in from the Kalindi Kunj depot.

54
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

a) The train consisted of 6 coaches- 2 each of

Driving Motor Coach (DMC)
Trailer Coach (TC)
Motor Coach (MC)
The coaches were unloaded in a predefined sequence so that the train could be formed
properly.
b) Machinery Required
i. Prime mover (6 nos. – 1 no. for each coach)
ii. Hydraulic Trailers (100 T) (6 nos. – 1 no. for each coach)
iii. Cranes- 300 T (Only 1 no. at unloading site)
c) Train coaches details
i. Coach Dimension : DMC/TC/MC- 22010 mm x 3200mm x 4048 mm (LxWxH)
ii. Weight/Coach : DMC/TC/MC – 42 to 43 ton (approx.)
Procedure for Job Execution
Coaches were uncoupled in the depot and loaded individually on road trailers.
Loading of Coaches - 1x300 ton capacity Hydraulic tyre mounted Telescopic Crane was placed
perpendicular to the rail for loading of coaches with the help of spreader beam, slings, lifting
pad etc. Coach was loaded on the Hydraulic Trailer placed besides the track. Lashing &
Securing of coach was provided at 8-points. Rail Coach was covered by tarpaulin before
transportation to site.
Transportation of Coaches- After loading of coach on Hydralic Trailer, a trailer was moved by
Prime Mover run by a Driver to the destination site.
Unloading of Coaches at ramp portion on Main Line track-
The coaches were lowered on ramp area (which was nearest to ground level) with the help of
1x300 ton capacity Hydraulic tyre mounted Telescopic crane placed perpendicular to the track
at destination site.
Hydraulic trailers with coaches were placed parallel to the ramp portion. Lashing & securing
was removed from the trailer.
Lifting pads were inserted at Lifting points on the coaches. Then coaches were lowered at ramp
portion by crane with the help of slings & spreader beam.
Lowered coach was then pushed to suitable location with the help of battery operated Rail cum
Road Vehicle, which was placed on the ramp area for coach movement purpose.
The coaches were lowered in a predefined sequence and ensuring proper direction of coaches.
After lowering all the coaches, they were coupled to form the train.

55
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 11

For the First Time in India,

DMRC Completes Work of Two Parallel
Tunnels Simultaneously at Dabri Mor
Introduction
During any tunnelling activity, the breakthrough of the Tunnel Boring Machines
(TBMs) after completing the tunnelling work is a moment of great excitement for the
engineers. On many occasions, elaborate functions are planned and organised to
celebrate such moments.
However, at Dabri Mor, in the year, 2014, DMRC’s engineers attempted something
even more adventurous. Two TBMs broke through after creating two parallel tunnels
at Dabri Mor at the same time achieving a feat never accomplished earlier in India. It
needed precision, planning and monitoring as two TBMs advanced almost together for
days to finally breakthrough on the same day.

Another Engineering Landmark

For the first time in India, the construction work of two parallel tunnels were
completed together at Dabri Mor, with two TBMs breaking through after boring twin
tunnels from Janakpuri West to Dabri Mor.
The two TBMs named ‘Riddhi’ and ‘Siddhi’ emerged out at the Dabri Mor station after
boring 1.2 kilometre long twin tunnels. While one of the TBMs was inserted in
December, 2013, the other TBM had started work in January, 2014.
The tunnels have been constructed at a depth of 16.5.metres and the internal
diameter of the tunnels is 5.8 metres. The casting of the segments was done at a
Casting Yard in Dwarka.
This was the first ever occasion when twin tunnels were completed together in any
Metro project in India. The decision to go for a twin TBM breakthrough was taken
since both the TBMs were progressing almost simultaneously. The first such instance
of a twin breakthrough had happened during work on the 8.6 kilometre long Toronto-
York Spadina subway extension in the year 2002.

Elaborate Instrumentation and Monitoring done

The construction of these tunnels was a major engineering challenge as they passed
below thickly populated residential as well as commercial areas consisting of schools,
temples, hospitals etc.
Extensive geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring was done to ensure the safety
of the structures above. Various monitoring instruments like Inclinometers, Magnetic
extensometers, Piezometers, Rod extensometers, Precise level markers, Bi-Reflex
targets, Crack Meters etc were used for the purpose.

56
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 12

Delhi’s Arterial Outer Ring Road

Gets Many New Pedestrian Subways
Introduction
While there is no doubt about the fact that the Delhi Metro has tremendously enhanced the
city’s connectivity, there is another gift that DMRC’s engineers have in store for the people
of the city.
The city’s arterial Outer Ring Road, which passes through major residential as well as
commercial areas in southern Delhi now has additional pedestrian subways at as many as
seven locations.
A Pedestrian’s Delight
Crossing Delhi’s ever busy streets has always been a nightmare for Delhi’s residents.
While many subways and foot over bridges have been built at multiple locations, there are
still many areas where such facilities are yet to come up. Keeping in mind this
requirement, Delhi Metro’s engineers have planned the stations of Phase 3 in such a way
that the entry/exit structures of most stations, are also doubling up as pedestrian subways.
These entry/exit structures of stations are accessible on both sides of the road through the
unpaid areas of the station as a result of which general pedestrians not intending to board
the Metro can also use these structures simply for crossing the street.
Seven Locations to have such Subways on Outer Ring Road
All the Metro stations on the Janakpuri West – Kalindi Kunj corridor which are on the
Outer Ring Road also have underpasses through the unpaid areas through which general
pedestrians intending to cross the road can pass.
These stations are Munirka, RK Puram, IIT, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Greater Kailash
and Nehru Enclave. The Outer Ring Road is one of the arterial roads of Delhi through
which thousands of vehicles pass at high speeds every minute.
These underpasses will be of great use to the pedestrians who want to cross the road
especially senior citizens and women. Similar arrangements have also been made
wherever possible on the other stretches constructed under phase 3.
Major residential and commercial areas such as Munirka, RK Puram, Panchsheel, Greater
Kailash, Nehru Enclave and CR Park will be immensely benefited as all the people who
want to cross the road just to reach the bus stop or the market nearby will be able to use
these subways.
Box Pushing Technology used
The subways have been constructed using the Box Pushing technology, with which
vertical excavation or large scale digging is not required. This method is much faster than
the conventional Cut and Cover technology used generally for the construction of
subways. If DMRC had opted for the conventional Cut and Cover technology, then it
would have had to excavate the road above causing great inconvenience to the
movement of traffic.

57
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 13

Botanical Garden Becomes

NCR’s First Interchange Metro Station
Introduction
Interchange stations, which are the connecting links between corridors, play a
major role in enhancing connectivity from one part of the city to another. In Phase 3,
for the first time a Metro station outside Delhi city has been transformed into an
interchange facility.
Botanical Garden, located in NOIDA now provides connectivity between the Dwarka
– NOIDA Blue Line and the Botanical Garden – Janakpuri West Magenta Line. Using
this station, commuters will be able to travel from NOIDA to various parts of South
Delhi as well as the domestic terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
NCR’s First Interchange
The Botanical Garden Metro station has been transformed as the first ever interchange
Metro station in the National Capital Region outside the boundaries of Delhi city.
Till now, there were no interchange stations outside Delhi. Even in Phase 3, Botanical
Garden remains the only interchange station in the NCR region. This station provides
interchange between the Line 3 (NOIDA City Centre – Dwarka Sector 21) and the
Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden corridor (Line 8).
This Metro station will connect NOIDA directly with important locations of South
Delhi such as Nehru Place, Kalkaji, Hauz Khas etc. The domestic airport will also get
direct connectivity.
The projected interchange load of the new station as per the Detailed Project
Report will be 97,780. The Botanical Garden Metro has a total parking area of about
1,420 sq. metres.
With the construction of this new interchange station, the traveling time between
NOIDA and Gurugram will come down by about half an hour to a total of 50 minutes
with interchange at Hauz Khas. Presently, a journey from HUDA City Centre in
Gurgaon to Botanical Garden in NOIDA takes about 1.5 hours with interchange at the
busy Rajiv Chowk Metro station.
NOIDA will get directly connected with the domestic terminals of the Indira Gandhi
International Airport for the first time. The journey from the Botanical Garden station
to the domestic terminal will take about 40 minutes only.
The new station building has been connected with the existing station with the help of
a slab about 20 metres wide and 100 metres long. There is platform to platform and
concourse to concourse connectivity. Therefore, there is both paid area and unpaid
area connectivity.

58
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Chapter 14

Delhi Metro’s Third Bridge Over

Yamuna Comes Up at Kalindi Kunj
Introduction

The expansion of Delhi Metro across NCR has meant that the Metro has had to criss-
cross the Yamuna quite a few times. Delhi Metro’s first ever bridge over the river had
come up in its first phase when a bridge came up at Shastri Park on the inaugural
Shahdara – Tis Hazari section. Subsequently, near Indraprastha, another bridge came
up which today takes the arterial blue line to NOIDA and Ghaziabad. In third phase, a
bridge has come up at Nizamuddin on the Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar section apart from
this bridge over Yamuna which has come up at Kalindi Kunj on this particular section.

This is Delhi Metro’s first ever bridge over Yamuna which directly connects Delhi with
NOIDA since it is placed absolutely on the Delhi – Uttar Pradesh border.

Location and Technical Specifications

The location of this bridge is along the Okhla barrage after crossing Kalindi Kunj.
The approximate length of this bridge is about 574 metres. The bridge has 14 spans of
41 metres length each and 15 piers. This bridge has come up about 85 metres
downstream of the existing Okhla bridge over the river Yamuna.

This bridge is located between the Kalindi Kunj and OKHLA Bird Sanctuary stations
of the section, which will help in connecting the satellite city of NOIDA with the
southern part of Delhi by Metro.

Construction Challenges

As mentioned above, the bridge has been constructed about 85 metres downstream of
the existing Okhla barrage over the river Yamuna. During construction work, on many
occasions, water was released from barrage at very short notices, leaving DMRC with
very little time to wrap up work there. Within hours, all men and heavy equipment
had to be removed from the site as water would start rising following the release from
the barrage. This caused substantial loss of man hours.

In addition, during monsoons, due to rising water levels, it would be very difficult to
carry on with the construction and substantial work could be done only during the
dry months.

59
Photo Gallery
 Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Deepest Metro station at Hauz Khas Double TBM breakthrough at Dabri

Elevated stabling yard of Kalindi Kunj Depot Elevated stabling yard of Kalindi Kunj Depot
under construction at Jasola Vihar at Jasola Vihar

Janakpuri West interchange

61
 Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Janakpuri West Metro station getting ready Janakpuri West Station being built near Hotel Piccadily

NATM tunnel at Kalkaji Okhla NSIC station under construction

Metro viaduct over Railway Tracks and the Modi Mill flyover at Okhla

62
 Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Okhla NSIC Metro station under construction The Hauz Khas interchange station being built

Three tier Hauz Khas station under construction Trials in progress Botanical Garden

Okhla NSIC Station

63
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Botanical Garden Metro station, Violet Line Metro passes over

Delhi Metro’s first interchange in NCR the under construction Kalkaji Mandir station

Twin Tunnels at Dabri Mor New Metro Trains at Kalindi Kunj Depot

Yamuna bridge at Kalindi Kunj

64
 Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

Unloading of train at Sadar Bazar Unloading of train at Sadar Bazar

Beginning of Trial runs from Kalindi Kunj to Kalkaji Mandir Trial runs start from Kalindi Kunj

Beginning of Trial runs from Janakpuri West to Terminal 1 - IGI Airport

65
Press Clippings
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

67
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

68
Janakpuri West Botanical Garden

69
majlis Park - shiv vihar
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Introduction
Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar Corridor

After the successful completion of 190 kilometres of Metro network across the National
Capital Region (NCR) of India, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is now engaged in the
construction of another 160 kilometres of Metro lines under its third phase of expansion.
The third phase will connect important landmarks of the entire NCR such as the arterial
Ring Road and the outer Ring Road, the Indira Gandhi Domestic Airport, and so on.

The 59 KM long Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar (Line-7), known as Pink Line is one of the major
under construction Metro corridors which is being built on the Ring Road. This corridor
has 38 stations out of which 12 stations are underground and 26 stations are elevated.
This corridor covers areas like Shalimar Bagh, Shakurpur, Punjabi Bagh, Naraina,
Dhaula Kuan, Moti Bagh, South Extension, Lajpat Nagar, Ashram, Hazrat Nizamuddin,
Mayur Vihar, Trilokpuri, Vinod Nagar, Welcome, Maujpur and Shiv Vihar.

Delhi Metro’s new UTO (Unattended Train Operation) enabled trains will operate on
this corridor. The new trains, with extremely high levels of automation, have undergone
rigorous trials to ensure that they are ready for smooth operations after the
commissioning of the corridor. Initially, train operators will run the trains, but
gradually, driverless operations (on the UTO mode) will be possible.

The new signaling technology known as Communication Based Train Control (CBTC)
has been implemented on this corridor after undergoing rigorous testing in stages. The
response of the train at different speeds, braking of the train and the interconnection
with the Operations Control Centre (OCC) was also monitored during the trials. The
behavior of the track system and the Over Head Electrification (OHE) was checked
repeatedly.

Some new stations on the Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar network such as Sarai Kale Khan
(Hazrat Nizamuddin), Sarojini Nagar, Bhikaji Cama Place (Safdarjung), Dhaula Kuan
(Sardar Patel Marg), Naraina Vihar (Brar Square) will come up near the stations of the
Ring Railway network.

On this corridor, Stations have been planned on the basis of the norms and criteria
already adopted in Phase-I and II corridors. Traffic integration facilities have been
provided at almost all the stations keeping in view the ridership pattern and availability
of land. The integration facilities at Metro stations include approach roads to the stations,
circulation facilities, pedestrian ways and adequate areas for various modes likely to
come to important stations including feeder buses/mini buses.

71
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 1

Dhaula Kuan –
The New Height of Success
Some of the stretches on the Majlis Park - Shiv Vihar corridor have been deliberately
kept elevated as an underground line would have created a lot of traffic diversions.
This is especially true of the Dhaula Kuan intersection.

The Metro viaduct between the South Campus and Delhi Cantt Metro Stations which
crosses over the existing alignment of the Airport Express line at Dhaula Kuan was a
major engineering achievement for the Delhi Metro, as the viaduct was constructed
without hampering movement of trains on the Airport Line and the road traffic
movement (Ring Road – Sardar Patel Marg) below.

The height of the viaduct is 23.6 metres at this spot (as high as a 7 storey building) and
is the highest point of Delhi Metro so far surpassing Karkarduma where the Metro is
19 metres above the ground.

How It was Done

The launching operation above the Airport line was done only during the non-
operating hours (i.e between 12.30 AM till 4 AM) to avoid any disruption to the traffic
on the Airport line. During this time, no activities for train operations were permitted
on that portion of the Airport Express Line. Launching work started only after getting
all clearances from Operation & Maintenance (O&M) Department of the Airport line.
All the parts of the launcher were earthed before commencing the work. A diversion
road was also constructed to ensure that there is no inconvenience to the road users
during erection.

In order to ensure the safety of the workers and the trains and traffic below, DMRC
had installed CCTV cameras at various locations on the viaduct of the Airport Line
and on the launcher to monitor the overall activities. A team of six (6) Civil Engineers,
two (2) Safety Experts, Engineers from Operations & Maintenance department and
other experts closely monitored every movement of launching in the night so as to
ensure that the process of erecting segments over the existing viaduct was done
smoothly. The Overhead Electrification of the Airport Express line was also
carried out smoothly without causing any inconvenience, whatsoever, to the already
operational line.

The Design in Brief

The Design team of DMRC also prepared the design of the viaduct after closely
studying the requirement of passing over so many major landmarks such as the
Airport Line viaduct and the flyover at such a height. As per the design, three spans of

72
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

37 metres were made by segmental box girder technique by the launcher above the
existing Airport Express Line. A span of 37 metres has 13 segments weighing 45
tonnes each on an average which means each span of 37 metres has a weight of 585
tonnes and the weight of the launcher is 350 tonnes.

The difference between the rail levels of this under construction line and existing
Airport Express line was11.90 metres. The viaduct of the Airport Express Line is at a
height of 11.7 metres from the ground level.

Construction Methodology at Dhaula Kuan

Due to the close proximity with the existing flyover and the Airport line
viaduct, and as the segments were to be lifted to a height of about 23 metres,
a systematic methodology was planned for the erection of the segments.
The segments were erected through a special 4 step method because of the
extra height involved.
Step 1: The trailer brought the segment and was parked between the already
constructed piers.
Step 2: The segment was lifted by an extended winch assembly having a
load carrying capacity of 120 tonnes, whereas the maximum weight of any
segment is 55 tonnes and transfer of the same to the extended Macalloy bars
extended by couplers as the normal arrangement of winch and Macalloy
bars fixed to a slider can launch the segment only up to 15 m height. Then
the segment was transferred to a normal winch assembly and the extended
macalloy bar was removed and again lifted to a height so that could be
transferred to the macalloy bars fixed to the slider.
Step 3: The segment was rotated and attached with a segment trolley/ slider
using four 440 mm dia Macalloy bars having a capacity of 129 tonnes.
Additional safety had also been provided by way of two slings of adequate
capacity along with 4 Macalloy bars fixed to the sliders.
Step 4: The segment trolley/slider was pushed to one end of the pier where
it had to be erected through a segment launcher. Then the gluing of the
segments was carried out followed by stressing.

73
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 2

The Majlis Park Story

Introduction
Majlis Park is the first station of the Pink Corridor (Line 7) which also happens to be
the longest corridor of the Delhi Metro Network, so far. Azadpur is another important
underground station on this corridor as it provides interchange facility with the
existing Yellow corridor of the DMRC network. The tunneling between Majlis Park
and Azadpur was quite challenging as the Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) engaged to
make the 1.4 km long tunnel encountered unforeseen rocks while tunneling in this
stretch. The rocks damaged the cutter heads of both the TBMs during the tunneling
and it was not possible to change the damaged cutter heads of the TBM under the
ground. Thus an emergency shaft had to be made midway to retrieve the TBMs in the
densely populated colony of North Delhi. Land on the surface to build the shaft was
not available as this area had a number of private residents and a Gurudwara and it
took a lot of careful effort, planning and persuasion to convince these occupants to
agree for temporary relocation, demolition and reconstruction, which was all
necessary to build the shaft in this area, so that the whole TBM (length 7 meters) could
be retrieved from the top. As the area was densely crowded, care had to be taken
during the process to avoid damage by vibration etc. The remaining tunneling was
completed by inducting additional TBMs from the other shaft made on the ramp
towards the Majlis Park station.
Face-off with Rocks on Either Sides
A 1.4 km tunnel was to be constructed between Azadpur and Majlis Park Section
where the work was carried out with the help of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) from
either side. After completing 580 rings from Azadpur towards the Majlis Park ramp, at
a depth of 21 metres at their low point, both TBMs met with a large mass of intact rock
which infringed the lower quartile of the tunnel face and extended for approximately
30 metres. The TBMs used were both soft ground machines which had been used in
the previous phase of the Metro and experienced high torque and overheating when
attempting to cut through the rock zone. An attempt was made to break up the rock
ahead of the cutter face by drilling and placing an expanding chemical to burst the
rock and allow the cutter head to rotate and advance one ring at a time. The space
within the chamber available to manage this exercise was very limited, and matters
were made worse by the presence of wet running sand above the rock zone which
dictated working under compressed air.
The Retrieval and Relocation
Under these circumstances, DMRC took a decision to retrieve the TBMs instead of
changing the cutter heads and for this purpose two houses of 110 sqm area each and
another structure of 400 sqm were taken to make the retrieval shaft.
Once the residents were relocated to an alternate location and the land was acquired
from the concerned owners, the demolition work began. It was also necessary to

74
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

construct a temporary Gurudwara in the vicinity of the existing Gurudwara before the
acquisition of Gurudwara land, as indicated by the Gurudwara authorities. The
residential properties were acquired first and the demolition commenced. The
Gurudwara building was constructed with long spans and therefore, contained heavy
sections which were highly reinforced. For the dismantling of this building, a
mechanical excavator was deployed as manual dismantling could have taken more
time. Also, it was quite difficult to demolish the building in a dense locality without
affecting the adjacent buildings and maintain a safe and eco-friendly environment all
the time.
Crisis Management : Against all Odds
The rescue shaft was designed with secant piles which were placed in the periphery of
the shaft. Secant pile is a continuous series of primary (Plain) and secondary
(Reinforced) piles. Primary piles are installed first with secondary piles constructed in
between primary piles with an overlap of 200 mm on each side. At some portions,
where geology was very poor, contiguous piles were provided which are placed
consecutively with a liner throughout the length of the pile. After the construction of
secant and contiguous piles in the periphery of the shaft, the next step was to chip off
the weak concrete and connect all the drive piles at the top through a capping beam.
During the boring of piles, surrounding buildings were closely monitored by soil
settlement markers, building settlement points, extensometer, Real Time Online
Monitoring etc. Meanwhile, two rock TBMs were started from the Majlis Park side
towards Azadpur so that the tunneling process could be completed in this section.
After completing the tunneling process, these TBMs were also retrieved from the same
shaft at Rameshwar Nagar.
TBMs continued to advance precisely under the dense residential locality of Suraj
Nagar and Rameshwar Nagar Colony, where the condition of some of the houses were
very precarious and required continuous monitoring all the time. During excavation of
the shaft below the water table (6 meters), multiple problems were faced like frequent
incidents of water/soil ingress inside the shaft leading to settlement in surrounding
areas, Gantry Foundation and buildings.
After lot of efforts, the recovery shaft was completed and the tunnel was constructed
successfully. The recovery shaft was filled back and after that the land was handed
over to the owners for reconstruction of their properties. A portion of the recovery
shaft is now being used permanently for an emergency evacuation staircase instead of
cross-passages.
Due to the proactive approach of DMRC, this challenging hurdle was overcome and
the section from Mukundpur to South Campus (20.5 km approx.) was completed.

75
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 3

Crossing NH 24 : Rebuilding
Introduction

The elevated alignment of the Pink corridor passes over the National Highway 24
towards Ghaziabad at two locations- between Vinod Nagar and Vinod Nagar East and
between IP Extension and the Vinod Nagar Metro Depot. On this stretch, DMRC had
begun the work after obtaining the necessary clearance from the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways (MORTH) in March, 2013. However, suddenly as the
National Highway 24 became a part of the Meerut Express Way, the DMRC was asked
not to do any further construction activity within the 90 meters of ‘Right of Way’
(ROW) along NH 24, and dismantle all the pillars already constructed inspite of
having received permission earlier for doing the work. Thus for the first time in the
history of DMRC, already constructed pillars had to be dismantled, relocated and
redesigned leading to time delay and additional cost.

Thus, at one location, two pillars were destroyed and rebuilt after shifting to new
locations, while at another point one pillar had to be destroyed and rebuilt while one
was redesigned and another pillar was added.

Small Stretch, Big Stress

In June, 2014, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) informed DMRC that
there should not be any Metro pier (pillar) within the 90 metres of ROW of NH 24,
since the stretch was now a part of the Meerut Express Way project. In September,
2014, a decision was taken in a meeting between DMRC and NHAI to accommodate
the DMRC proposal. In subsequent meetings also, the issue of providing adequate
vertical clearance above the highways was discussed between the two organisations
and an agreement was reached with modifications and accordingly construction work
was started again with the permission of MORTH.

However, in January, 2015, NHAI again wrote a letter to DMRC and said that the
horizontal location of the piers on NH 24 was infringing their proposed carriageway.
On this issue, many meetings and communications were held between NHAI and
DMRC but no amicable solution was coming out.

In June, 2015 the Minister (MORTH) had a meeting with all the involved organisations
to find a solution. Based on the meeting, a proposal was sent to MORTH to place the
Metro piers as per requirement given by NHAI at both the locations in question. After
obtaining all the necessary clearances, DMRC could finally begin the construction of
Metro piers at mutually agreed locations in March, 2016.

76
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Construction and Demolition of Piers on NH 24

As per the original plan, three piers had already been erected which were infringing
the 90 metres ROW criteria of NH 24. However, as per the revised plan, two piers (No.
114 and 116) on either side of NH 24 had to be dismantled. However, one pier (115)
could be retained. A lot of erected segments across the piers were also dismantled.

Between IP Extension and Vinod Nagar Metro Depot

Another small stretch between IP Extension and Vinod Nagar Metro Depot had to face
some dismantling too. On this stretch, a portion of the viaduct connects with the
upcoming Metro depot at Vinod Nagar. This is the viaduct through which the trains
will hit the main line for operations from the depot. As per the original plan, three
piers were planned to be constructed using Cantilever Construction Technology.

However, a modified decision was taken to erect five piers to cover the desired ROW
of 150 metres instead of three and not go for the Cantilever Technology. By taking this
measure, DMRC could provide a vertical height of 8.5 metres as required by NHAI.
The entire modification of this stretch including demolition of the already erected
piers, redesigning of the new piers cost this stretch a delay of about eight months and
a monetary burden of about eight crores INR.

The concrete piers and segments were dismantled in parts using wire saw machines. A
wire saw is a powered saw that uses a metal wire or cable for cutting. Since the entire
work was done along a busy highway, adequate care was taken to ensure that
vehicular movement on the highway was not hampered.

The dismantling of the piers and segments as well as the redesigning process of the
new piers has been a major engineering challenge for DMRC. This construction and
dismantling resulted in no work for a period of almost two years. Apart from the huge
economic burden it imposed on the DMRC, the commuting population suffered the
most as the deadline was inevitably pushed back by another few months.

77
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 4

Design of Ashram Station

Introduction
Besides the availability of requisite land and land clearances, one of the main challenges of
constructing stations in the Delhi Metro Network, especially in busy and densely
populated areas is designing the station according to the ambience and the limited space
allocated. Constructing the Ashram station not only challenged the technical finesse of
DMRC’s architects, but also tested their experience and knowledge. Due to non availability
of land which belonged to a private party and other constraints that came up during the
construction, the station box had to be redesigned and reduced considerably from 265
meters to 151 meters. The DMRC architects and engineers for the first time, completely
redesigned the underground station utilizing all three levels i.e. Mezzanine, Concourse
and platform, to accommodate all the essential equipments, which are generally, placed
only at Concourse and Platform Levels of underground stations. This was done by
reducing the length of the platform for relocating Ticket counters and Automatic Fare
collection gates and shifting of Ancillary buildings and Ventilation Fan rooms vertically
upwards. The DMRC thus ensured that despite less space, the commuters got the same
facilities and quality of service.

Less Space, More Scope to work

The Ashram underground station on line 7 of Phase III Delhi Metro was a typical
underground station box of 265 metres length located along the Ring Road at the
intersection of Mathura Road at the Ashram Chowk junction. The PWD had also proposed
an underpass at Ashram Chowk, which was to be constructed in the future. Thus keeping
provision for this underpass, the rail level at this station was dipped to -20 m below
ground so that in the future this proposed underpass could be constructed above the
station concourse level.

Planning and detailed design of the station was done and construction was started.
However, there were constraints in acquiring a private plot which was needed for the
construction of a part of the station box. This was posing a problem in the completion of
the project. It may be noted that construction of the TBM tunnel from Hazrat Nizamuddin
was already complete at this stage and the TBM was waiting to be retrieved. Therefore, the
station box boundary shrunk a little further.

Given the constraints of an existing flyover adjacent to one side of the station box being
constructed, and CSIR apartments along the other side, there was no option left but to shift
or relocate the station box. At this stage, it was decided that design options should be
explored to contain the station box within the available space on site. This provided for an
internal length of 151 metres for the new station box.

In keeping with this constraint, and after many deliberations, an alternate design for the
underground station at Ashram was developed.

78
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

The design change was made after duly considering the aspects related to changes in
alignment, land requirement, systems design and structure design. The problem was
further complicated due to the fact that half the Diaphragm wall was already constructed
as per the original design thus restricting the levels of slabs possible within the station box.
The new design thus had to fit within the existing parameters of site constraints as well as
the structural design.

Platform and the Interiors

The length of the platform for a typical 6-car train is 140 metres. At this station, the length
of the platform was reduced to 135 metres which is just enough to ensure clear 3 metres
width in front of the passenger doors as well as the driver cabin door of the rolling stock.
In addition, the centerline of the platform was shifted by 57 metres towards Hazrat
Nizamuddin to keep the platform length within the station box. This was done to ensure
that the passenger service area including the island platform, stairs, escalators and the lift
remained undisturbed and the level of passenger service was not compromised.

Certain passenger service areas i.e. Ticket Operating Machines (TOM) and Automatic Fare
Collection gates (AFC) were relocated at mezzanine level and the location of the entry near
the CSIR apartments as well as the vent shafts and firemen stairs at ground level were
changed as per the new configuration.

The challenge was to design a tunnel ventilation system within the existing space. A tunnel
ventilation system typically comprises of a Tunnel Ventilation Fan (TVF) room, Air
Plenums on either side of the TVF room and Air Nozzles connected to the air plenum on
the tunnel side. The entire assembly occupies about 38 metres space on either end of the
station box. In the new design, the tunnel ventilation system has been accommodated at
concourse and mezzanine levels. At either end, two TVFs were placed across the tracks,
one over the other at concourse and mezzanine levels and were connected with each other
and the tracks by vertical plenums.

Apart from the tunnelling work and platform design, the allocation of functional
necessities like Auxiliary Sub Station (ASS) and Environmental Control System rooms are
very crucial at the initial stage of construction. These were accommodated at concourse
and mezzanine levels. Moreover, the location of ancillary building like Pump Room, Water
Tanks, DG sets and Cooling Towers etc. had to be relocated over the station box near the
CSIR apartments. Earlier, the ancillary building was supposed to be located in the private
land and could not be built as proposed earlier since the land could not be acquired.

However, though these spontaneous makeshift arrangements seem minimal and even go
unnoticed at the later stages of the completion of a Metro network, the detailed efforts
involved while dealing with these issues at the initial stage always become a legacy for the
engineers to follow in the future.

79
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 5

That One Night at Ashram Site

Introduction
Sometimes, when things are going smoothly, challenges come suddenly from the least
expected quarters. One such challenge came up one night when a Gantry Crane at the
Ashram Site tilted and derailed due to heavy wind and a storm. The locks of the crane
broke due to this and the crane tilted dangerously on to the flyover located close to the
construction site because of which traffic had to be diverted on the extremely busy Ring
Road. To dismantle this tilted crane, two additional cranes of 350 and 500 tonnes had to be
deployed. Some houses in the vicinity also had to be evacuated as a precautionary
measure. Quick decision making and precision in dealing with this sudden challenge
helped DMRC in resolving this issue soon without disturbing the traffic and causing harm
to buildings in the vicinity.

Derailment of the Gantry Crane

At the Ashram Construction site, the locks of a gantry crane broke due to the extremely
heavy wind, and it moved towards the DND expressway side. Gantry cranes are a
type of crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or
workspace. They are also called portal cranes, the "portal" being the empty space
straddled by the gantry.

The gantry then hit the end-stopper meant to stop the machinery from moving and tilted.
The incident did not cause any damage, whatsoever, to any person or machinery in the
area. However, as an abundant precautionary measure, traffic on the Ring Road towards
Mathura Road (along the Ashram flyover) and Bhogal (below Ashram flyover) from the
DND expressway side was diverted till next morning.

Rescue and Relief

As per the diversion, all vehicles desirous of going towards Mathura Road or Bhogal from
the DND expressway side had to take the Ashram flyover and then take a U-turn from
below the Sriniwaspuri flyover. Adequate traffic marshals and temporary signages were
immediately put up at all crucial intersections to inform the motorists.

For additional safety, four houses in the vicinity had to be evacuated and the gantry was
tied with guyropes (special kind of ropes to hold heavy equipments). Additional welding
was done to further stabilise the machinery.

On 25th May, 2016, as per the charted plan, the area was prepared by breaking down
boundary walls, trimming branches of trees etc. for placing 500 tonnes & 350 tonne cranes
at suitable locations around the gantry. In the evening, the cranes were placed at their
respective positions. After assembling counter weights on the cranes, dismantling of crabs
began by 9.30 pm on the same day. Both the crabs were dismantled and lowered down to

80
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

the ground by morning. Next morning, traffic was also opened on the Ring Road which
was closed for dismantling the gantry, and it was decided to dismantle the girders during
the night after closing the road again. The balance dismantled portion of the gantry crane
was held by the 350 tonne crane till night time.

Thus, the dislocated gantry at the under construction Ashram Metro station site was
dismantled successfully after a three day long operation conducted by DMRC’s engineers
and other specialised agencies.

For the dismantling operation, two heavy cranes of 500 tonne and 350 tonnes were pressed
into service which gradually helped in safely removing the parts of the huge gantry.
Initially, the crab weight above the gantry was removed and then the entire gantry was
dismantled in parts (first the connecting beams and then the legs).

These kinds of incidents do not give much room for planned action. Forethought
combined with immaculate planning and precision in execution becomes the need
of the hour.

Spontaneous decision of traffic diversion averted the risk of any further untoward
incident and the dislocation of the gantry could be reinstated with much ease and control.
A specialised agency was also roped in for the entire activity. Abundant precautionary
measures were adopted to ensure the safety of all men and materials in the vicinity.

81
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 6

Crossing the Railway Station at Anand Vihar Site

Introduction
The upcoming Line 7 of Delhi Metro is not only the longest corridor of Phase – III, but has also
faced the maximum number of engineering challenges since it passed through a lot of difficult
stretches and densely populated areas. One such section was the portion when the viaduct had
to cross the Anand Vihar Railway Station of the Indian Railways, one of the busiest stations in
terms of ridership and number of trains. In fact, two piers had to be erected on the Anand
Vihar Railway platform itself and large spans (around 70 mts) had to be erected to avoid any
kind of disturbance to the Railway station. DMRC engineers had to ensure that the train
schedule of the Indian Railways was not disturbed during the DMRC’s construction. Despite
this difficult challenge, DMRC successfully completed this stretch in a planned manner,
without affecting the routine working of the Indian Railways.
The Engineering Challenge
For crossing this area of Indian Railways, six piers were erected in the railway compound in
such a way that there was no infringement of the Metro line with the railways. Provision of
future development plans of the Railways was also kept in mind so that the Metro piers would
pose no problem to any such plans in the future. Two piers were placed on the running
platforms where it was difficult to work with round-the-clock train and passenger movement.
Due to the peculiar placement of piers in the railways land, the spans are quite large. One of the
spans which is designed between pier no. 235 and 236 is almost 70 metres long. In order to
cater to the requirement of special spans, cellular lightweight concrete (CLC) construction has
been done with the help of bridge builders. This construction methodology has helped in
continuous construction without interfering in the movement of trains to and from the Anand
Vihar Rail terminal.
The detailed length of the spans between pier no. 234 to 239 are as follows:
Pier No. Length (metres)
234-235 37
235-236 69.820
236-237 67
237-238 55
238-239 34

These piers are located in the periphery of the Anand Vihar Railway station. Two of the piers
are located on the platforms of the Anand Vihar Railway station of Indian Railways.
DMRC has crossed the railway lines in a very safe and systematic manner with all safety
precautions in place and without affecting the daily train movement on the section in
coordination with the Indian Railways. The work was done only after obtaining the necessary
approval from the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS).

82
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 7

DMRC’s Rare Feat at

Karkarduma Metro Station
The Delhi Metro has achieved a rare feat in Metro construction by crossing over its
existing operational line at the Kakarduma Metro Station at a record height of 21
metres above the ground.

Construction for crossing over of Metro viaduct at the existing Karkarduma Metro
station was never an easy task for the Metro engineers. It posed numerous challenges
to the civil engineers throughout the project, as this is one of the highest crossings of
the Metro project. The Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar Corridor is crossing the existing
Vaishali- Dwarka elevated line (Line-4) 21 metres above the ground and is 10 metres
above the existing Metro line. The work was done without disrupting the normal daily
Metro train/passenger services for even a single day.

This new alignment of Line-7 is crossing the existing Vaishali – Dwarka Metro
alignment at Karkarduma just before the existing Karkarduma station at an angle of
114 degrees. DMRC had to carry out segmental erection for putting a special span of
37 metres between pier no. 254 and pier no. 255.

Delhi Metro has crossed the existing Metro line at such a height in a very safe and
systematic manner with all safety precautions in place. The launching of the girder
and erection of the span was carried out with extra precaution.

An extensive round the clock CCTV monitoring was done adjacent to the rail track to
avoid any sign of electrocution and fall of material during crossing. The monitoring
consisted of earthing provided to the launching girder, pre-stressing beam, erected
segments or any other loose item kept on the span. The work was carried out during
the shadow block of the existing system during non-operating hours after getting all
the clearances from the competent authorities.

It was in all likelihood that the engineering challenges would have compelled the
engineers to compulsorily disrupt the passenger/Metro train services on some crucial
days. Given the fact that the Dwarka-Noida/Vaishali (Line 3/4) corridor of the Delhi
Metro Network is the busiest corridor in terms of ridership, a small disruption in the
services would have created a lot of passenger unrest. Thus, the engineers planned the
execution of this technical feat so meticulously that everything was completed silently
and successfully without disrupting the existing passenger traffic on Line-4.

85
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 8

Successful Launch of Steel Structures at

Punjabi Bagh and Rajouri Garden
The most interesting aspect of an engineering project is encountering new challenges
at every step of the construction work and to successfully counter that with precision.
The same situation occurred at the under construction Punjabi Bagh and Rajouri
Garden sites too.

Launch of the Steel Bridge on Ring Road below Rajouri Garden

The Delhi Metro engineers prefabricated a steel bridge which was successfully placed
below the existing elevated Line 3 at Rajouri Garden intersection in a six day long
operation, connecting Mayapuri and Rajouri Garden stations of Line 7.

The steel bridge span is 60 mts long and weighs 350 Metric Tonne and is located at the
Rajouri Garden intersection which connects Mayapuri and Rajouri Garden stations.

This steel span, which is 60 mts long and weighs 350 metric tonnes, was constructed to
achieve the mandatory ground clearance of 5.50 metres which otherwise was not
available with the conventional technique of building a box girder viaduct. This was
because the viaduct of Line 7 was going under the existing Line 3 / Blue Line (Dwarka
sector 21- Noida/Vaishali) corridor. The height of the Blue Line’s (Dwarka-
Noida/Vaishali) viaduct is 16.6 metres from the road and of Line 7’s viaduct
is 5.73 metres.

The various components and parts of the Steel Span were taken to the construction site
and assembled in a systematic way. The span was then "pushed" about 60 mts, starting
from pillar P157 towards pillar P156 at the Rajouri Garden intersection. 12 ‘Hillman
Rollers” of capacity of 200 metric tonne each, and 2 Hydraulic Jacks of capacity of 50
metric tonne were engaged to complete the launching operation.

The launching of the steel span was carried out in the night hours so as to avoid
inconvenience to the road traffic during the day time. Adequate traffic marshals were
deployed to regulate the traffic.

Usually, Delhi Metro uses spans of 31 metres for construction of the viaduct, but due
to the presence of heavy traffic on the Ring Road, this mammoth steel span which is
much longer in length (almost double) had to be used to connect the upcoming
Rajouri Garden station with the viaduct joining the line further to the upcoming
Mayapuri station.

Launch of Steel Span at Punjabi Bagh

At the Punjabi Bagh site, due to the existing underpass on the Rohtak Road, it was not
possible to construct a pier at the location. Therefore, to counter this problem, DMRC’s

86
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

engineers decided to build a special Steel Span of 60 mts to cross the main road, in
order to connect the viaduct to the proposed Punjabi Bagh station.

The Steel Span weighing 360 metric tonne, was launched using Steel Trusses in place
of the conventional RCC (Reinforced Cement Concrete) against Box Segmental
Construction, since this line had to cross below the operational Inderlok – Mundka
corridor, and obtaining vertical clearance for the underneath road traffic was a
major constraint.

High capacity “Hillman Rollers” and Hydraulic Jacks were used to push the steel truss
to its final position which had already been assembled and erected on the trestles on
the side spans. The operation was carried out during night hours and using this
method ensured that the road traffic remained undisturbed. DMRC took all safety
precautions and ensured round the clock monitoring of truss levels and deflection, etc.
including thorough checking of the trestles

DMRC, thus successfully completed the launching of this Special Steel Span. This was
also the second truss pushing done by DMRC on this corridor, the first having been
done at Rajouri Garden by the same team of Engineers.

Acquisition of Jhuggi Land

This section also passes above two major Jhuggi clusters having a total of 229 Jhuggis
located at Mahatma Gandhi Camp at Punjabi Bagh (which had 79 Jhuggis) and
Jawahar Camp at Mayapuri (which had 150 Jhuggis).

In 2012, DMRC requested the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement (DUSIB) to take
necessary action for relocation/rehabilitation of these Jhuggis as per the extent
policy of the Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). DUSIB is the
statutory authority which is responsible for resettlement and rehabilitation of jhuggi
clusters in Delhi.

The mentioned areas were handed over to DMRC very late after DUSIB had relocated
all the Jhuggis i.e. only by mid 2016. Thus the work on the entire section was
completed except for the Jhuggi area (i.e. approx. 85 mts. at Punjabi Bagh and approx.
105 mts. at Mayapuri). Work on these stretches could be taken up only after the land
was made available to DMRC in mid 2016.

Thus, after a delay of four years, DMRC engineers started work on the Punjabi Bagh
portion in June, 2016 and completed the viaduct in December, 2016 while in the
Mayapuri portion the construction work started in July, 2016 and was completed in
March, 2017.

87
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 9

Diversion of Box Drain from

Mayapuri to Rajouri Garden
One of the major challenges during the construction of the elevated viaduct between
Mayapuri to Rajouri Garden was the diversion of an existing 1.2 km long box drain (size
3.5 metre x 2.5 metre) carrying sewer waste. The drain was running almost parallel to the
viaduct from Mayapuri to Rajouri Garden. Though the problem was identified initially
during the utility identification work, the viaduct work could not be started without
diverting the drain.

This alignment is constructed in between the Ring Road and service road, so due to space
constraints towards the service road side the diversion of the box drain was planned
towards Ring Road side. Thereafter, only a 7.5 metre road was available for plying of
traffic. Accordingly, it was planned to carry out the diversion work of the drain stage wise
to create the front for pier foundation work.

After diversion of the drain, the dead drain was blocked and then dismantled with the
help of porcelain rock breakers. Then all the slush was removed and again the area was
filled up with sand to avoid any settlement. During the piling work, additional steel plates
of 25 mm thickness were also placed below the piling rig machine as an additional
precautionary measure.

However, near Metro pillar No. 166, the drain of size 3.5 metre x 2.5 metre could not be
aligned straight along the road as the space was not available on the road due to less road
width. Also, since there was a PWD flyover on one side and private properties on the other
side, it was planned to divert half of the drain from the other side of the Ring Road.

For the execution of this work, large pipes were placed by trenchless technology and half
the drain was diverted adjacent to the flyover. Simultaneously, the drain from the opposite
site of the road was again crossed below the Rajouri Garden Flyover side through
Trenchless technology and both the drains were joined near Metro pillar no.-157.

In addition to this, the major challenge during this whole activity was to manage the traffic
movement. For this proper arrangements like deployment of sufficient numbers of traffic
marshals at every diversion, installation of proper traffic signage were made during the
duration of the construction activity.

88
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 10

INA – Model Station for Phase 3

Introduction

INA is a very important location in terms of connectivity to the nearby areas of Delhi.
It is a mix of residential and shopping areas like Sarojini Nagar, Laxmibai Nagar, Dilli
Haat etc. The INA station of the Pink Line is an interchange station with the Yellow
Line station. The new station is at 90 degrees to the existing station and this is for the
first time in the history of the Metro construction that a station is built over the existing
tunnel connecting the operational INA and the AIIMS Metro stations. This is also
probably the first time in India that a ‘Cut & Cover’ construction was done over the
existing operational tunnel.

The Challenge

INA Metro station of Line-7 (Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar) is an interchange station
providing seamless connectivity between the existing INA station and the new station.

From the underground station perspective also, this Metro station is unique as the
platform has been constructed above the concourse level for the first time in Metro
construction. This implies that the platform is at the first level of this underground
station (called basement level 1) while the concourse level has been shifted below the
platform at the base level.

For example, If one passenger wants to interchange from the new INA station to the
old INA station then he has to go down from the platforms of the new station to the
concourse level and from the concourse he will be connected to the concourse of the
old INA station through the common interchange area.

This was done here because of the height variation between the existing INA station
and the upcoming new INA station owing to the already existing Metro tunnel at the
location. DMRC had to modify the station design to adjust to the new circumstances.

This is, probably, for the first time in India that a cut and cover construction has been
done over the existing operational tunnel. So, there is one point where trains of both
the lines and the concourses would simultaneously operate on top of each other.

For interchanging (i.e. going to the already existing INA station), the commuters will
have to go to the concourse/base level of the new station and then go to the existing
INA station.

The station has three (03) entry/exit points for the commuter’s entry/exit. Two of the
entry/exit are towards the west side of the Aurobindo Marg out of which one is just
adjacent to the ‘Dilli Haat’ and the other will cater to the residents of the Laxmi Bai

89
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Nagar (West). The third entry/exit will, however, be towards the east side of the
Aurobindo Marg catering to the Kidwai Nagar (East) and GPO complex. In all, this
INA interchange station has seven (07) entry/exits for commuters.

The ticketing facility for two of the entries will be at ground level only (i.e. for the
Aurobindo Marg entry and the ‘Dilli Haat’ entry).

Students travelling between North and South campuses of the Delhi University will
also be able to commute by the Metro by using INA as an interchange station. The best
part for commuters boarding the Pink Line at this station would be that getting into
the train will take only a few minutes as the escalators and lift from the ground level
will directly lead to the platform.

90
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 11

Tunneling Challenges –
TBM Dragged through the Naraina Vihar
Metro Station
Introduction

The underground stretches of the Pink Line have been equally challenging since tunneling
had to be carried out not only under extremely busy traffic intersections and heavily
populated residential and commercial areas, but also under operational Metro tunnels at
four points. One such difficult location was at Naraina Vihar where the TBM had to be
dragged through the under construction Naraina Vihar Metro Station (210 meters) using
push ram cylinders, as there was no space to build another retrieval or launching shaft at
the station. Apart from being an engineering innovation, this step by DMRC engineers
saved considerable time without the requirement of additional land and displacement
of properties.

TBM Dragged through the Naraina Vihar Metro Station

Generally, TBMs are retrieved through custom made retrieval shafts and then re-inserted
through launching shafts in the new location. However at Nariana, the Tunnel Boring
Machine was dragged through the Naraina Vihar Metro station, on Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar
line, due to paucity of space for creating a shaft on the ground. The TBM was dragged
about 210 metres and thus this became another engineering landmark for DMRC.

The TBM was retrieved at Naraina Vihar station on 5th October, 2015 after installing 578
rings (803 metres) between the launching shaft (towards Delhi Cantt) and Naraina Vihar
station. The adjoining stations of Mayapuri and Delhi Cantt are elevated metro stations.

This was another engineering landmark since the TBM shield was dragged from one point
to the other. Conventional engineering would have involved construction of separate
retrieval and launching shafts, which would have required more land and displacement of
properties above.

In addition, the process would have required a month each approximately for the retrieval
and then relaunching of the TBM. To avoid this and to save time, the TBM shield was
dragged using push ram cylinders.

The TBM was dragged for a distance of about 210 metres and took about one month. The
whole operation involved lowering the TBM and lateral shifting to avoid infringement
with the concourse slab and station Diaphragm wall. The lateral shifting and longitudinal
pulling of 427 metric tonnes heavy TBM involved two 100 metric tonnes hydraulic jacks.
The TBM then started tunneling work towards Mayapuri.

A similar operation was done at the Janakpuri West Metro station on Line 8 (Janakpuri
West-Botanical Garden) in February 2015.

91
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Chapter 12

Trilokpuri: The Missing Link

in the Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar Corridor
Introduction

One of the major construction challenges during Phase-3 has been the issue of availability
of land at various locations of Delhi, and one of the most critical pockets was between
Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 and Trilokpuri Metro Stations which led to delay in the construction
of the viaduct in this area.

Block 15 of Trilokpuri is a densely populated residential area and this land pocket was
needed for the construction of 10 metro pillars (piers) to build 255 meters length of the
viaduct, which would connect an important interchange station of Phase III - Mayur Vihar
Pocket1 to Trilokpuri. The occupants of 108 plots on Block 15 were to be relocated to make
this land available for construction of the missing viaduct.

Relocation of the Residents

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) had allotted the land measuring
11,138 square metres, comprising three plots namely A1, A2 and A3 in front of Block 15,
16, 17 and 18 in Trilokpuri to DMRC for the relocation of the affected persons. However,
due to resistance from the local residents, the rehabilitation work could not be started at
the said plot.

The affected residents of Block-15 of Trilokpuri area whose houses were to be dismantled
and rehabilitated, filed a petition in the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi on06/01/2016. The
Delhi High Court vide its judgement dated 25.02.2016 stated in favour of DMRC that it has
valid allotment of land and permission to construct buildings at the three sites situated in
front of Block No.15,16, 17 and 18. The Hon’ble Court further allowed DMRC to commence
the construction and also directed the Police to render full cooperation, assistance and
protection to the officials of DMRC as well as to its contractors to carry out construction at
the three sites in front of Block 15,16,17 and 18.

Twist in the Tale

The relocation work in front of the Blocks 15,16,17 and 18, Trilokpuri had started on
13.06.2016 as per the directions of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi and in consultation
with the Police authorities. However, some local residents filed a case in the National
Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi claiming that the land allotted
to DMRC is under the Green Belt.

However, as per Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) Zonal Development Plan of Zone
E, the ‘land use’ of the middle portion of the allotted land i.e. Plot No.2 is ‘residential’ and
balance two plots i.e. Plot A1 and A3 is ‘recreational’. DMRC approached DDA for change
of land use for both the plots from ‘recreational’ to ‘residential’.

92
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

The site was jointly inspected by DMRC and DDA officers, where DDA mentioned that the
right of way in front of these plots is 30 metres and the existing road had to be widened
from 21 meters to 30 meters. This widening is inevitable as heavy traffic is projected by
DDA due to massive development plans for Sanjay Lake and commercial complex, which
will increase the traffic further on this road. Hence, the widening of the road would be
done by taking 9 metres from the A1, A2 and A3 plots marked for rehabilitation work.

The present width of A1, A2 and A3 plots is 23 metres and after giving away 9 metres of
land for road widening, 14 metres width will remain. On this balance land only 66 quarters
are being constructed and a solution for the remaining 42 residents is yet to be found.

DMRC has sent a demand for acquisition of land measuring 2615 square metres in front of
Block-14, Trilokpuri to DUSIB for the construction of the balance 42 quarters.

It is possible to accommodate complete Rehabilitation & Reconstruction (R&R) at site

presently allotted by DUSIB if the widening of road in future as per Zonal Development
Plan is restricted to only 4.5 metres on eastern side (present rehabilitation side), the balance
widening can be considered on western side, if required in future. In this regard, letters
have been written to DDA, PWD & MOUD for initiating necessary amendments in the
Zonal Development Plan. NOC from PWD obtained and the matter was with UTTIPEC at
the time of this publication.

The technical committee of DDA has already approved the proposal for change of land use
for Plot A1 and A3 and the formal permission is yet to come.

DMRC has sent a demand for acquisition of land measuring area 2615 square metres in
front of Block- 14, Trilokpuri, to DUSIB as an alternate option for the construction of the
balance 42 quarters.

As DMRC is still awaiting a solution for the current situation, it has been decided by the
DMRC management, that the trains coming from Mukundpur will be reversed from
Mayur Vihar pocket 1 station while those operating from Shiv Vihar will return from
Trilokpuri. Trains will be operated on single line between I.P. Extension and Trilokpuri.

93
Photo Gallery
 Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Construction activity at Netaji Subhash Place station Viaduct crosses over its existing line at the
operational Karkarduma Metro Station

Construction activity at Anand Vihar Railway Viaduct crossing over NH-24

station platforms

Construction work of Viaduct crossing Indain Railways main line at Anand Vihar

95
 Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Noida link road crossing near Mayur Vihar Ph-1 Near Welcome station, over Railway and Metro Line

Finished Tunnel TBM retrieval at Rameshwar Nagar Gurudwara shaft

View of Mukundpur Depot

96
 Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

Viaduct crossing on the ring road at Mayapuri Mayur Vihar Phase-1 crossing existing Blue line

Trial train passes through Rajouri Garden Flagging off of signalling trial from
Motibagh to Majlis Park

TBM retrieval shaft at Rameshwar Nagar

97
Press Clippings
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

99
Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

100
 Majlis Park Shiv Vihar

101
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book contains details
about some of the civil
engineering challenges faced by the
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
while constructing the
Phase 3 of the Delhi Metro Project.
Complex engineering issues
were examined in detail by
Mr. Anuj Dayal, Executive Director/
Corporate Communications,
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
who has converted these
issues into a format, readable and
understood by the general reader.