Barapullah road delayed again

With just 12 days remaining for the Commonwealth Games to begin, work on the Barapullah elevated road is still not complete. The Public Works Department (PWD) says it will be atleast two more days before the elevated road is handed over to security agencies.

With just 12 days remaining for the Commonwealth Games to begin, work on the Barapullah elevated road is still not complete. The Public Works Department (PWD) says it will be atleast two more days before the elevated road is handed over to security agencies.

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The PWD blamed the fresh spell of rains for the delay. Only after the road is handed over to security agencies that security drills can begin on the stretch.

Being constructed between Sarai Kale Khan (Ring Road) and Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium — the venue for the opening and closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games — the 3.7-km-long road will provide quick access to the main Games venue to athletes and team officials staying at the Commonwealth Games Village in east Delhi.

According to senior PWD engineers, heavy rains on September 19 and 20 prevented the civic agency from carrying out dense carpeting on the 200-m-long stretch on the spans, over railway lines of the Nizamuddin railway station.

“We were hopeful of completing the work by Sunday. Black topping needs to be done only on the 200-odd-metre stretch of one of the two carriageways. But we could not even start it (due to the rains),” said a senior PWD engineer, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister (CM) Sheila Dikshit asked agencies involved in Games preparations to set up special teams to monitor progress on unfinished work.