A study conducted by the Delhi Public Works Department has said flyovers recover their construction cost within three years and give back in terms of utility 37 times the expenses incurred in 40 years after commissioning. At the 53rd foundation day of the department, the PWD unveiled a booklet of its achievements and said that it has saved fuel worth Rs 2,689 crore in the past five years and Rs 66 crore by preventing carbon dioxide emission of 14,34,669 tonnes. Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, the Delhi Government had gone into overdrive to build flyovers. A total of 18 were constructed between 2007 and 2010 at a cost of Rs 3,148 crore.
“By reducing the carbon dioxide emission, we have not only contributed to environment conservation but also saved about Rs 66 crore which the environment department would have spent to control the emission by various means,” a department official said.
The department said it has spent Rs 3,148 crore on 18 of such projects and the amount was fully recovered within three years of the project’s completion in 2011. The study submitted to the Union Urban Development Ministry also revealed that it takes longer to get bureaucratic clearance than to construct a flyover.
“The construction cost of the projects of grade separators (which includes a road underpass, a main road, a pedestrian walkway and a flyover at one place) at Mangolpuri, Mukarba Chowk, ITO Chungi, Shyamlal College and Anand Vihar project, were recovered within the first commissioning,” the official said.
The Mangolpuri grade separator was constructed with a cost of Rs 38.00 crore in year 2009. “It is saving 9.5 lakh man-hours a day, fuel worth Rs 23.5 lakh litres per year, it has reduced CO2 emission by 5,548 tonne per year,” the official said.
Similarly the Mukarba Chowk grade separator, which was commissioned with a cost of Rs 195 crore in year 2009, save fuel worth Rs 1.6 crore litre a year, 66.5 lakh man-hours and had reduced CO2 emission by 39,024 tonnes a year.
“The Azadpur grade separator, completed in February 2010 with a cost of Rs 154 crore, saves 16 lakh man-hours a day and fuel worth Rs 41 lakh litres per year. The CO2 emission is reduced by 9,544 tonnes a year,” he added.
Delhi’s Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar Srivastava said that the PWD has adopted new technologies and upgraded its work force according to the requirement. “There are many technologies which were first introduced to the country by the PWD. It has completed many projects before the deadline, especially during the Commonwealth Games,” he said.