Subway to come up in British-era Gole Market

A 40 metre-long pedestrian subway will be connected to the museum to provide visitors a direct, safe, and convenient access route to it, said officials.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) chairman on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the construction of a subway in the iconic Gole Market located near Connaught Place.

The area is also set to get a parking lot aside from the construction of the subway.

To be constructed as part of the NDMC’s ongoing endeavour to revamp the British-era Gole Market building into a museum, the 40 metre-long pedestrian subway will be connected to the museum to provide visitors a direct, safe, and convenient access route to it, said officials.

“The subway will be constructed at a cost of around ₹1.90 crore, and we are aiming to complete building it within four months. It will be 40 metres long and 3.5 metres wide, with a height of around 3 metres, and will be equipped with lifts for specially-abled people at Entry and Exit points,” said an NDMC official

The area is also set to get a parking lot aside from the construction of the subway.

The museum project, including the subway, is set to cost ₹21.67 crore. The NDMC aims to complete it by February 2026, the official added.

To be sure, the NDMC had approved the plan to convert the market into a museum and redevelop its surrounding areas at a council meeting in June 2023, launching the project in October that year.

The delays in the conversion of the building into a museum were related to the finalisation of design layouts. The museum will be dedicated to India’s women achievers, and will be centrally air-conditioned. Its old, crumbling tin roof will be dismantled and replaced with a hemispherical glass dome, HT had reported earlier this year citing an NDMC official.

.