G20 projects: Beautification on track but repairs lagging

Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena held a meeting to review preparedness for the upcoming G20 summit

Work on the city’s landscape, including sprucing up urban greenery and overhauling the civic infrastructure, has gained pace and is on track, officials part of the meeting held to review preparedness for the upcoming G20 summit said.

The Capital is scheduled to host the G20 leaders’ summit from September 9-10. (HT photo)

However, there are other major works pending to be completed, included disposal of construction and demolition waste across the city and repairing pavements and footpaths on 61 roads, the officials added, after the meeting chaired by Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena.

The review meeting was also attended by chief secretary Naresh Kumar, chairman NDMC Amit Yadav, and several senior officers from various departments and stakeholder agencies. The G20 summit is scheduled to be held in September this year.

At the meeting, the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were also directed to put in place a contingency plan to deal with cases of waterlogging in case of rainfall in the city, officials . familiar with the development said. The agencies were also asked to have tractor-mounted heavy-duty pumps, suction machines, spray jets, etc. to be put on standby to address any emergent situation.

The Capital is scheduled to host the G20 leaders’ summit from September 9-10, which is expected to include the heads of states of the world’s 20 largest economies. A massive exercise is underway to tidy up the city’s landscape, with roads being relaid, urban greenery being spruced up, and civic infrastructure fixed and overhauled.

“LG VK Saxena again reviewed the progress of different works related to civic infrastructure and the preparedness for the forthcoming G-20 Summit in the Capital. Saxena, who has been consistently on the roads inspecting and monitoring the progress of works, had chaired the last meeting in this regard on July 31,” the LG office said in a statement. Saxena has laid special thrust on disposal of C&D waste, removal of encroachments, repair of footpaths, and horticultural upgradation/landscaping, it said.

The LG’s office also said that other development and civic agencies have increased the horticultural and plantation efforts. while the Delhi Metro has been ensuring cleanliness of stations and removal of posters and graffiti from its pillars. Murals and other art works have also come up on flyovers, poles and pillars, the LG’s office said.

“The district monitoring coordinators have been asked to deal with issues of defacement of walls, poles, metro pillars and fascia by commercial and political entities who put up posters and graffiti with a heavy hand and zero tolerance,” officials said.

During the meeting, instructions were also issued to deck up the surroundings of hotels such as Radisson Blue-Mahipalpur, Surya Hotel-New Friends Colony, Eros Hotel-Nehru Place, Hotel Lalit and Hyatt Regency and others after revamp issues around them were flagged in the meeting. Delegates attending the G20 summits are expected to stay at these hotels, the officials said.

The LG’s office added that 30 mobile teams of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee will be constantly on the roads till the conclusion of G20 events and any violation of pollution norms detected by these teams will be prosecuted on the spot.

The LG is monitoring the sprucing up and revamp of 61 important roads along with the venue outside ITPO and 23 hotels associated with the summit spread over seven districts in the Capital. “Of these, 36 roads and 17 hotels are located in the New Delhi District with South-West District having just, 02 roads and 01 hotel. The 07 districts where such projects are located include New Delhi, South East, South, Central, Shahdara, South West and East,” the LG office said.