Work on in CP without a project report!
The disorganised turn of events that caused the inordinate delay in completion of the Connaught Place redevelopment project was inevitable. Surprisingly, the entire project has been going on without any updated detailed project report (DPR).
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which spearheaded the mammoth project along with Engineers India limited (EIl), also admitted to lapses and held the numerous modifications to the project over the years as the prime mover.
Chairperson of NDMC, Jalaj Shrivastava said, “Initially there was a project report. Eventually, there were so many changes made to the project because of which the report cannot be considered as concrete and up-to-date. In the four years of the redevelopment plan, innumerable aspects were dropped or added.”
Even the estimated budget of the entire project skyrocketed for the NDMC, primarily due to the haphazard planning done by it along with its
consultant, EIl.
The lack of farsightedness reflected on many occasions. First, it decided to turn the entire commercial hub into a fully air conditioned one at a budget of Rs 55.75 crore. The plan, however, couldn’t get the approval from the Council.
Secondly, Rs 3.2 crore was spent on subways which never saw the light of day. Digging for the proposed subway on G block cost the agency Rs 1.5 crore, whereas Rs 1.72 crore was spent for another on H block. Soon these massive holes had turned into nothing but a dumping ground and a serious public hazard.
Moreover, the first detailed project report of CP redevelopment had envisioned and laid down the plan for creating an underground parking in the inner circle. Pedestrianisation of CP inner circle was the main agenda, where no traffic movement was to be allowed. However, even this was trashed citing non-feasibility and time constraint as reasons.
There was a time when the budget for this plan shot up to a whopping Rs 671 crore. later, on the realisation of the Council and the Government, it was trimmed down to Rs 477 crore. The scope of work was reduced by scrapping four proposed subways at Yusufzai Market, Estate Entry Road, Chelmsford Road, P Block SBS Marg. In addition to this, a few new entrances proposed at existing subways were also annulled.