Many road projects may miss 2010 target

While the government has set the Commonwealth Games 2010 as the deadline to complete most of the flyover projects, senior government officials accept they may not be able to complete some of them in time for the games. The construction of various flyover projects taken up by the Delhi Government is going on at a snail’s pace.

“There are certain projects which are big and require clearances from various agencies. Though efforts are being made to push through those projects, Commonwealth Games would be too ambitious a deadline,” a Delhi Government’s public works department (PWD) official said.

The 15-kilometre long north-south elevated road between Majnu Ka Tila and Dhaula Kuan, east-west Corridor from Commonwealth Games village to Karol Bagh, signal free interchange at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and 48-kilometre long elevated ring road are some projects which have yet to clear several hurdles and may not come up before the Games.

The much-hyped Signature Bridge across the Yamuna is already off the list of the projects to be completed before the Commonwealth Games. Delhi government's tourism department constructs signature bridges.

Various other flyover projects have already missed several deadlines. In some cases, the government has yet to award contracts, while the project should have been nearing completion by now.

Delhi PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, however, said the PWD is making good progress in most cases and the delay is not more than 1-2 months in most cases.

“It has been raining off and on for the past two months. Work on Geeta Colony bridge had to be stopped because of the rains,” said Chauhan. “In some cases, the Delhi Urban Art Committee (DUAC) permission came late and in some other projects the shifting of services took time,” he added.

The Geeta Colony Bridge, however, has already missed two deadlines and is eight months behind its schedule. A small bridge on Ring Road over Barapula drain should have been completed in March 2007 but the progress has been abysmally slow. The revised deadline for the flyover at Neela Hauz was March 2008 but needs a couple of months before it is finally commissioned. The railway overbridge along the Wazirabad Road near Nand Nagri needs at least three more months to complete, while it should have been opened by November 2007.

According to sources, there are over 25 flyover and over-bridge projects, which have to be commissioned by the PWD by 2010. Barring one or two, all other projects are delayed, PWD sources said.

PWD officials confirm that the construction of a clover-leaf at Shastri Nagar and Raja Ram Kohli Marg, the railway underbridge near Jhilmil, three flyovers on outer Ring Road at old JNU campus, Munirka and Rao Tula Ram Marg, two flyovers along the Ring Road at Naraina and Mangolpuri is also late.

“We may have to revise the deadline of all these projects by at least 2-3 months,” said an official. All these flyovers are to be opened by December 2008.

The fate of some more projects like elevated road over Barapula drain and Shastri Park tunnel road is still not clear, the officials confirm.