The escalated cost of land acquisition of Western Peripheral Expressway has become a bone of contention between the Delhi Government and the Centre. Despite Ministry of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping’s plea to pay more for land acquisition for the Western Peripheral Expressway, the Delhi Government has refused to pay more on the project. The issue has been discussed at a high-level meeting on WEP with Ministry of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping.
The next meeting is expected by Cabinet Secretary next month.
Top sources told The Pioneer that the Delhi Government has already paid Rs 653.50 crore, far in excess of its original share of Rs 422 crore. The stock-still status of the projects substantiates the concerns of the Delhi Government.
“Cost escalation due to delays in construction and land acquisition could be curtailed by time bound completion of the projects,” said the sources. last year, lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung had written to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari expressing concern over the cost escalation of the Expressway and made it clear that the Delhi Government had already paid its share on the project and it won’t be able to pay further on this project.
“During the pendency of the projects, problems of pollution and congestion in the national Capital have become worse, indeed acute. Tinkering with the issue of traffic management within the boundaries of Delhi is yielding diminishing return. At peak hours and on certain roads, the problem is practically unresolvable,” Jung said in the letter.
In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Delhi Government has highlighted the cost overrun due to the delay in construction and acquisition of land by the other State Governments.
The Delhi Government was asked to bear 50 per cent cost of the Rs 844-crore project. But the total project cost has now been revised to Rs 3,589.56 crore. Requesting the court to fix a cutoff date up to which it had to bear the land acquisition price, the plea stated that it had so far paid Rs 653.5 crore with “no envisaged benefits so far”.
It is noted that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has asked the Delhi Government to contribute to the expressways projects’ cost.
The two expressways, running through Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, aim to decongest Delhi roads, but are running years behind the schedule. The two expressways - each about 135 km long - were planned in 2006 following a Supreme Court order to form a ring road outside Delhi for channeling non-Delhi bound traffic bypassing the national Capital.
While the Eastern Peripheral Expressway envisages to provide signalfree connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal, the Western Expressway connects Kundli to Palwal via Manesar in Haryana.