Signature Bridge: LG seeks report

NEW DELHI: Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal inspected the Signature Bridge on Saturday morning and asked for a monthly progress report. The Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation, which is developing the project, maintains that the bridge will be completed by September 2017. However, the officials who accompanied Baijal said that work could easily stretch up to 2018.
The cost of the project has been revised from Rs 1,100 crore at the time of tendering to Rs 1,500 crore.
Meant to be showcased during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Signature Bridge project has been dragging on for years. In fact, the AAP government, when it came to power in 2015, called it a “white elephant”. Since early 2015, tourism minister Kapil Mishra has been overseeing progress and the deadline has already shifted twice. In September 2016, a “final” deadline of April 2017 had been set. On Saturday, the deadline was shifted to September 2017.
The bridge, modelled on the famous London Bridge, is a crucial connection between north and east Delhi. Chief project manager Shishir Bansal, who was confident that the new deadline would be met, said: “We have achieved a height of 92 metre on the pylon and cable work has started. Out of 19 pairs, we have put up the first pair of cables. Finishing work is also going on at the last foundation. Meanwhile, one third of the 100m western extension road is left to be completed as is 200 metre of the main deck.”
DTTDC said delayed forest clearance, coupled with financial problems raised by the contractor, Gammon, had slowed the pace of the work at the initial phase. However, sources claimed that the Chinese firm from where the material was being sourced was the bigger issue, which reportedly lacked the necessary experience for such a project.