The 2017 municipal elections may be what the North Delhi Municipal Corporation needs to complete the Rani Jhansi grade separator project that was started in 2008.
Eight years after construction began on the 1.6-km-long flyover from Filmistaan Cinema to St. Stephen’s Hospital, parts of the much-delayed project are yet to be completed. Delays in acquiring land for the project led to the initial cost of Rs.70 crore escalating to Rs.225 crore.
Several deadlines missed
After several missed deadlines - the project was first proposed in 1998 - the corporation has now said that the flyover will be ready by January 2017, just in time for the election campaign.
After a site inspection on Wednesday, Standing Committee chairperson Parvesh Wahi said the flyover would be completed by December-end or January 2017.
“We are satisfied with the pace of construction and are expecting it to finish soon,” said Mr. Wahi, adding that the Engineering Department had been asked to deploy more workers.
He told The Hindu that 65 per cent of the work had been completed with the remaining to be done on a “war-footing”.
One of the reasons for the delay was lack of coordination between the agencies involved — the Railways had to shift a colony and the Delhi Jal Board had to move a water pipeline that was in the way. Now, Mr. Wahi said, all the departments concerned were “extending cooperation” to complete the work on time.
Once completed, the flyover is expected to improve traffic in the area, particularly around ISBT Kashmere Gate, Mori Gate, Shakti Nagar, Karol Bagh, Gulabi Bagh, Kamla Nagar, Sadar Bazar, Paharganj, and Azad Market.
The Opposition, however, dismissed Mr. Wahi’s statement as being politically-motivated.
“The way the work is being done it will not finish for three years. There’s no chance that the project will be completed before the elections, as the BJP is hoping,” said Leader of Opposition Mukesh Goel.
