Statues of Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Ravi Dahiya to find place in Olympics Boulevard

The Olympics Vithi or Olympics Boulevard will have a sports look with sculptures and statues of javelin thrower and Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, badminton player PV Sindhu, boxer Lovlina Borghain, wrestler Ravi Dahiya, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, wrestler Bajrang Punia among others.

The size of these statue and sculptures will be 15 to 20 feet height, with 2-3mm sheet metal thickness with integrated lighting system to give them an aesthetic look.

Besides celebrating and honouring the champions, the government also aims to inspire the youth of India to take up sports as a vocation and as a habit to stay fit.

The stretch will further have a synthetic fibre cycle track, open gyms with cross trainers, squat pushing, bicycle and other equipment. It will also have a children play area with multi-play equipment for children such as creepy crawly climber, hexa-climber, swing, see-saw and others.

The road engineering, geometry, kerbs, footpaths will be redeveloped as under the project to provide a safe and secure pathway for pedestrians. “Currently, the road is uneven with poor geometry and bottlenecks. Under this streetscaping project, all these bottlenecks will be removed and stretch will be made safer for pedestrians and it will also help reduce the accidents. The cycle track will be used for the residents of the neighbouring colonies for cycling as well as workers commuting to work,” said a senior PWD official.

An official said, “The stretch has ample space so we are utlising the areas to create safe path as well as a playing and work out area for the youth and children. It will also have four-seater benches where people can sit play carom, ludo and chess. There will be separate parking, toilets, kiosks, water ATM and foot trucks where people residing in the nearby areas as well as commuters can enjoy the view and learn about our Olympic champions and get knowledge from the information kiosks.”

Apart from street furniture, walkways, fountains and waterbodies will also be provided to improve the aesthetic appeal of the environment and the entrance of road will also be made in an arc shape with plants and shrubs. It will give people a feel-good experience. “There will be parking space for food trucks, in an integrated layout with outdoor seating to promote inexpensive authentic Indian street food,” added the official.

Further, water harvesting, drains and sewer on this stretch will be redeveloped and selfie points will also be created. “The sports look will encourage the youngsters to take part in sports and follow their dreams and passerby and commuters will also be inspired to take up sports activities to stay fit,” said the official.

The tender for the project has been floated and consultants have been appointed. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 19.30 crore, of which Rs 13.28 crore is for construction work, Rs 3.8 crore electrical and Rs 2.15 crore for horticulture development work. The tender process will take about one month and once the work is awarded, the work is expected to start by March-April and the stretch will be streetscaped, beautified and redeveloped by August.

BOX STRETCH ROAD NUMBER 51 FROM MUKUNDPUR TO MCD COLONY

Length- 900 meter, approx 1km

Stretch theme– Sports, dedicated to olympic and para-olympic champions 2021

Stretch will be called as–Olympic Vithi/ Olympic Boulevard

Statues– Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra, Badminton Player PV Sindhu, Boxer Lovlina Borghain, Wrestler Ravi Dahiya, Weighlifter Mirabai Chanu, Wrestler Bajrang Punia and others.

Other amenities–Open Gym, Children Play area, street furnitures and sitting area for elderly persons, food truck, kiosk, fountain, waterbody, decorative designer lightes, sandstone benches and 55 feet high flag and others.

Tenders floated, estimated cost Rs 19crore