Delhi has always been a city of bridges. It has 17 major ones across the Yamuna, an eighteenth is almost ready, and it has just approved two more. They are critical to a third of the city’s population that lives on the other side of the river. Before 1857, Delhi was approached either by river or from Ghaziabad across a floating “bridge of boats” that stretched over the Yamuna near the Red Fort and Salimgarh Fort. Early travellers wrote of the dramatic first glimpse of Shahjahanabad’s minarets rising above the river as they crossed into the city.
The arrival of the iron railway bridge, or Loha Pul, in 1866 transformed that experience. As Delhi linked to Calcutta and the expanding railway network, visitors arrived through the neo-Gothic railway station and along Queen’s Road, confronting the architectural symbols of British power.
From the Mughal-era bridge of boats to the 19th-century Loha Pul’s iron lattice, and from pontoon bridges to the Signature Bridge’s soaring cables, every crossing has marked a new chapter in the city’s expansion beyond the river. One of the planned bridges recognises that historical legacy; it is near Salimgarh, and will come up parallel to Loha Pul, according to government officials familiar with the matter. The other is planned near the Metcalf House/Chandgiram Akhara junction. Together, the two will improve connectivity in Trans-Yamuna areas and ease traffic congestion on the key Kashmiri gate stretch of the Ring Road, the officials added.
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The two bridges are part of the elevated ring road Delhi is constructing. Delhi PWD minister Parvesh Verma said: “The overall elevated ring road project will be executed in six packages. Approval has been granted for stage 1 comprising of three phases covering Azadpur to DND-Ashram stretch. The elevated corridor will cross the Yamuna at two points, where the new bridges will be constructed. It will significantly help in decongestion of Delhi’s arterial corridor while improving the connectivity for Trans-Yamuna areas.”
Delhi has 17 major functional bridges spanning the 22 km stretch of the Yamuna River between Wazirabad and Okhla. These include key road, rail and metro crossings such as the Signature Bridge, Nizamuddin Bridge, Old Yamuna Bridge (Loha Pul), and Delhi Metro bridges.
The latest addition is a new railway iron bridge, while the Barapullah Phase-III bridge connecting Mayur Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan is in its final stage of construction, and will be the 18th.
The new bridges are sorely needed.
“Kashmiri Gate stretch of the Ring Road is one of the most congested corridors in the city. At present, vehicles coming from the Civil Lines side have to take a right turn at the signal near Chandgiram Akhara, creating a major traffic bottleneck. An elevated corridor will start from this junction, pass over the Chandgiram Akhara area and cross the Yamuna. The route will run along the Shastri Park floodplain and could be linked to the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway in the future,” said a Delhi government official who asked not to be named.
The second bridge will connect the Geeta Colony road with Ring Road near Vijay Ghat area– parallel to the Old Loha Pul. The corridor will include ramps and loops to improve access for East Delhi residents.
Delhi’s 55-km Ring Road, the city’s key arterial corridor, will be upgraded through an elevated road project planned in six phases. The stretches include Azadpur–Metcalf House, Majnu Ka Tila–Salimgarh Fort, Salimgarh–DND, DND–Moti Bagh, Moti Bagh–Rajouri Garden and Rajouri Garden–Azadpur.
Verma said the first stage of the elevated corridor project is expected to cost around ₹11,000 crore. “Work will first begin on the first three packages, where the alignment is clear and no major land acquisition issues have been identified.” Officials said these three packages cover nearly 47% of Ring Road. “The two proposed Yamuna bridges form part of the Majnu Ka Tila–Salimgarh Fort package, which will also include five interchanges and access ramps. The estimated cost of this section is ₹3,384 crore. Since part of the alignment passes through the Yamuna floodplains in East Delhi, the project will require approval from the National Green Tribunal (NGT).”
Bridges’ history
Yamuna bridges are crucial for connectivity between Delhi and its Trans-Yamuna areas, which accommodate more than one-third of the city’s population within just a fraction of its geographical area.
Of the Yamuna’s nearly 40-km stretch, around 25 km passes through densely populated areas. All 17 functional bridges are heavily used; they include barrages, railway bridges, Metro bridges and road bridges used by vehicles and pedestrians.
Loha Pul, built in 1866, replaced the historic bridge of boats near the Red Fort and Salimgarh. The bridge of boats, rebuilt during the reign of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, was later used to carry him to Rangoon after the Revolt of 1857.
Historian Narayani Gupta writes in her book Delhi Between Two Empires: 1803-1931, that before 1857, Delhi was mainly approached by river or through the bridge of boats from Ghaziabad. “The construction of the bridge in 1866 and railway connectivity with Calcutta changed it.The traveller of the 1870s descended from the train and was confronted with the sight of the proud Queen’s Road, and the British statements of faith—the neogothic railway station and the classical facade of the municipal town hall, a colonial copy of the standard ‘centre’ of cities in Victorian Britain,” she said.
Delhi has three barrages, each of which is managed by a different government– Wazirabad barrage, which came up in 1959 and is a 1,491 ft long weir across the river, is managed by Delhi government. The primary purpose was to feed the water treatment plant and ensure water supply to the city. It derives its name from the Tughlaq-era Wazriabad bridge in its vicinity. The ITO barrage is managed by the Haryana government and the Okhla barrage by Uttar Pradesh. There are three railway bridges, one for the modern Regional Rapid Railway System and multiple metro bridges. The Delhi–Noida Direct Flyway, or DND Flyway, which was India’s first eight-lane wide, 7.5 km long access-controlled expressway in Delhi NCR, was opened for traffic in January 2008 and helped revolutionise connectivity and growth in NOIDA.
The most massive and iconic structure of them all – Signature Bridge, which connects Wazirabad to the inner city – is India’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge.
Its pylon is the tallest structure in Delhi at double the height of the Qutub Minar. Completed in 2018, it shortens travel time between north and northeast Delhi as well as Ghaziabad.
Delhi had earlier planned to build three additional Yamuna bridges. Two of the three proposed bridges — Sonia Vihar to Jagatpur and Sabhapur to Sant Nagar — were to be constructed upstream of Signature Bridge at Wazirabad, while a third was to connect Pushta No. 3 to Chandgiram Akhara in an effort to decongest the Ring Road. The project was to be funded by the Centre, but it never took off, the Delhi government official cited above said.
BS Vohra, who heads the East Delhi RWA joint front said: “…Even though the number of bridges has gone up, so has population and traffic. Even now the ISBT bridge gets clogged during peak hours. East Delhi needs more connectivity, more bridges
