Red tape delays RTR traffic relief

NEW DELHI: Delhiites know that the RTR Flyover linking Munirka with the Army's R&R Hospital in south Delhi is named after Rao Tula Ram, one of the leaders of the Indian rebellion of 1857. But most would rather that the initials stood for "red tape ridiculousness" for the manner in which the ill-planned motorway has added to the drivers' exasperation rather than ease their commute.After the ludicrous manner in which the original two-carriageway blueprint was amended to make it a one-way flyover, the remedial plan to restore it to a full-fledged traffic corridor has once again run into bureaucratic roadblocks.
With residents of Vasant Vihar abutting the road resisting the initial plan for the flyover, a one-way RTR, on inauguration, became a traffic nightmare for drivers headed towards the Indira Gandhi Airport and Gurgaon. Still ridiculous, even the sole carriageway was divided into two single lanes for incoming and outgoing traffic, leading to massive jams on either side. In an effort to undo the farce, the Public Works Department began work on adding another carriageway at the end of 2014. The deadline for the project is the end of 2016, with the Delhi High Court monitoring the progress.
But the project is heading nowhere more than a year later. A senior official of the PWD admitted that progress has been extremely slow and blamed the forest department for not giving permission to fell 139 trees on RTR Marg and 177 on Benito Juarez Marg despite a request being made in 2014. "We are unable to give the contractor a clear space for construction," said the official. "The forest department gave us permission to chop down only 20 trees." Forest officials have apparently communicated to the PWD that a survey was being carried out to determine whether the area was morphologically a part of the Ridge or bore features of the protected forest. "We do not understand the purpose of this survey since the area has been completely developed as an urban expanse," said the official.
Delhi PWD minister Satyendar Jain recently held a meeting with the departments concerned and has reportedly asked forest officials to take a quick decision on the case.
In further show of red tape, however, in August 2015 Jain himself shelved an underpass to be constructed on the claustrophobic Benito Juarez Marg that radiates from the airport end of the flyover. Agencies such as GAIL, DTL, MTNL and NDMC demanded Rs 70 crore as the cost of shifting utilities at the construction site. With the entire project budgeted at Rs 100 crore, the government was not prepared to incur a further cost of Rs 70 crore.
But with no options available, the agencies have been asked to lower their estimates. "They had been asked to shift the utilities by 2013 yearend. Usually, when such requests are issued, the agency concerned takes action within two months and at its own expense. The PWD has only paid water and power suppliers for shifting services," said an official.
Two other roads that are crucial for ensuring a smooth drive across the RTR flyover are in trouble too. The court has already pulled up the traffic police for failing to clear encroachments on the Nelson Mandela Marg-Munirka Flyover intersection, a road identified as an alternative for traffic heading towards the airport and to Gurgaon.
More frustratingly, the bypass at Mahipalpur, designated to take traffic away from RTR, is likely to take a long time becoming operational. The ministry of urban development has given an in-principal nod for the construction of a flyover connecting the bypass to Aerocity to cope with the extra traffic, but, says a PWD official, "this will take some time because a part of the land on which construction is to take place is vested in the Delhi International Airport Ltd". In other words, unless these peripheral routes are in place, work on RTR cannot start, jeopardising the 2016 deadline.
Meanwhile, the Vasant Vihar residents' welfare association, which had opposed the project earlier, is urging quick completion of the flyover expansion. "The current progress is extremely slow," said Vivek Tandon, joint secretary of the RWA. He hoped that once work began in earnest, the government would implement an efficient traffic management plan to prevent chaos. Long-suffering Delhiites have a bigger wish: Forget the red tape and get the corridor decongested without delay.