In a major boost to Barapullah Elevated Road Project between Sarai Kale Khan and Mayur Vihar, Delhi Lt Governor(LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday approved acquisition of 0.63 hectares of land in village Nangli Razapur near Sarai Kale Khan in south-east district for construction of piers.

The project has been stalled for more than six years due to acquisition of small parcels of land for the project.Saxena also directed the Chief Secretary that if there is any further delay, responsibility should be fixed on officers / officials behind it and action should be taken.

The LG asked for the concerns expressed by him on file to be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister and the Minister-in-charge.Saxena, is the designated competent authority as per the the Right to Fair. Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, while approving the proposal for acquiring the said land has expressed his displeasure over the delay in the project due to inaction on part of officers, officials said here. 

The LG also noted that the project work was started without having requisite land parcels in hand and no concrete efforts were made by the authorities for timely acquisition of required land parcels, thereby affecting this project of immense public importance aimed at improving connectivity and decongesting traffic.  What is even more outstanding is the fact that despite land not being in possession and the future implementation of the project being in jeopardy thereof, hundreds of crores of public fund was spent in construction of the project, Saxena noted. 

He asked to identify individuals / officers / engineers, right from the project planning stage and further, so that responsibility could be fixed for this serious misdemeanour that resulted in non-completion of the project even after six years of its deadline and subsequent losses to the exchequer by way of cost overruns.  He has asked for this exercise to be undertaken at the earliest and report thereof to be submitted to the LG Secretariat for further necessary action.

I am surprised that the project work was started without having requisite land parcels in hand, said the LG.