Redeveloped Chandni Chowk market likely to be opened by Kejriwal on Sunday

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to inaugurate the redeveloped Chandni Chowk market on September 12, officials said on Tuesday.

Earlier the project was to be inaugurated on April 17 this year but was cancelled due to the second wave of COVID-19.

According to officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), which is one of the agencies involved in the redevelopment work, the department has been asked to start preparations for inauguration and complete all the misses and fixes.

The redeveloped Chandni Chowk is likely to be formally inaugurated by the CM on September 12. We are preparing for it and completing the finishing touches, a senior PWD official said.

Sanjay Bhargava, president Chandni Chowk Serv Vyapar Mandal, said, The inauguration date is September 12 and it will be done by the CM.

Kejriwal is in Jaipur for a 10-day Vipassana course a type of meditation and is likely to return later this week.

In the redevelopment project, the 1.3-km-long stretch in Chandni Chowk between the Red Fort and the Fatehpuri Masjid crossing has been improved and beautified.

The stretch has been developed as a pedestrian friendly corridor and made aesthetically appealing with the help of red granite stone, decorative lights, plants and street furniture etc.

The stretch has been made a no-traffic zone for motorised vehicles between 9 am and 9 pm.

According to PWD officials, the project was approved in August 2018 and work on it began in December 2018.

It was to be completed in March 2020 but the project got delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and its deadline was further pushed to December 2020.

The project got delayed further and was set for inauguration in April this year but the event was cancelled due to surge in COVID-19 cases.

Other than a few finishing touches, toilet complexes in the area are also to be made functional. Encroachment is another big problem in the market. I hope all this is resolved before the formal inauguration, Bhargava said.