Two back-to-back elections, a whirlwind Government under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal coupled with the President’s Rule in place — the national Capital has had it all in just a span of a few months. Amid the hullabaloo, Delhi is ailing under a pile of projects, which are yet to materialise. The Pioneer gives you a sneak peek into the pending infrastructural projects in the city — and causes for their delay.
Rudderless Delhi adrift on sea of delusion
The sheen is gradually wearing off the national Capital and the buzz of various developmental works visible until a few months ago seems missing now. Delhi’s been put to sleep as infrastructure projects worth a whopping Rs 5,000 crore have lost momentum for want of an elected Government. With the imposition of President’s rule city dwellers too are facing the brunt as they are left wondering about how to get their problems solved.
Political uncertainty to imposition of President’s rule and a slew of pending court cases, all, in varying degrees, have affected some mega projects that were set into motion by the erstwhile Sheila Dikshit Government. Some of these projects were under construction while others were either at the conceptual stage or at consultant appointment level.
Works at various projects, including the ambitious monorail track from Shastri Park to Trilokpuri, the Wazirabad Bridge and other schemes have been put on hold. Besides, the Rs 2,400 crore project to make Vikaspuri to Wazirabad signal-free is also nowhere in sight. Other projects include construction of second carriageway at RTR flyover, construction of court premises at DDU Marg, VIP numbers for four wheelers, Kalindi Kunj bypass project, shifting of Patiala House court premises to Rouse Avenue and making signal free stretch of Metcalf House.
Amidst all these pending works, the Delhi Secretariat has turned into a quiet place. Silence prevails inside the premises of Player’s Building which houses several key ministries of the State. Guards entrusted to secure the premise now indulge in political gossips to let time pass. The long queues, which were a common sight during the 49-day Arvind Kejriwal-led Government, can no longer be seen now as entry for the common people inside the Delhi secretariat without prior appointment with bureaucrats has been ‘informally’ banned.
Officials in the Delhi Government opine that many of these projects were initiated by the political class to woo people of the national Capital which have lost pace in the absence of an elected government. The projects initiated by the earlier government got delayed due to political uncertainty and lack of interest by the Arvind Kejriwal Government. Besides, the occurrence of two elections (Assembly and lok Sabha) in a short span delayed the projects further.
“According to the NCT Delhi Act, the Minister is the Head of the Department and in the absence of Ministers there will be shifting of responsibility. Delay in projects is bound to happen,” said SK Sharma, former director of lok Sabha Secretariat, adding that some of projects have already been started in last few months, but in the absence of proper government, sanctioning of funds for smaller components of the projects will be a problem and bureaucrats, most likely prefers to shift the responsibility.
Taking a note of delay of project, lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung had recently directed Principal Secretaries and Head of Departments (HoDs) to start field inspection to bring pace in the ongoing projects.
The monorail project connecting Shastri Park and Trilokpuri, a dream project of Sheila Dikshit Government, especially East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit, is all set to get delayed as the Finance Department has already opined that a Rs 2,200 crore project is not feasible and it would be waste of money. The project is still on paper and there is no headway.
Similarly, the Delhi Cabinet had approved a proposal for shifting of Patiala House court premises to Rouse Avenue at DDU Marg. The project is at tendering process stage and is expected to be delayed due to the model code of conduct. Construction of second carriageway of RTR flyover is also at tendering stage and the PWD is likely to go for global tender after the lok Sabha election is over. Despite the lieutenant-Governor’s nod, the Kalindi Kunj bypass project has also been held up due to elections. The alignment of the project has been finalised.
Meanwhile, the 14 BRT projects of which Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) were completed are now stuck and the Government has neither scrapped the project nor is it taking any decision on the future of BRT project.
There are several projects which are the conceptual stage and are set for more delay. These projects include Dhansa regulator to Dwarka Mor for providing additional connectivity between Jhajjar (Haryana) and IGI Airport, making single flyover to double carriageway at Punjabi Bagh, construction of flyover Nangloi Dichaon Depot to Dhansa Road to Prem Nursery, Mehrauli to Badarpur, ITO decongestion plan, and elevated road from Najafgarh drain (Kakraula) to Wazirabad.
Construction of a bridge over river Yamuna upstream Wazirabad bridge, corridor improvement plan near Kondli, traffic improvement plan at outer ring road from IIT to NH-8 and its adjoining areas, proposal for elevated road to connect Mehrauli bus stand to Mehrauli-Badarpur road, and Idgah to Kishangarh road project (Neela Hauz road) — all have been put on the back burner.
Sources said that some projects are pending with UTTIPEC (a body of engineering experts under lieutenant-Governor) for discussion while in others; PWD is in the process of appointing consultants. “Political class usually used to set priority of the project. Now bureaucracy will decide the priority of the projects,” said PWD officials on condition of anonymity.
The policy on issuing fancy number plates and VIP numbers too has been delayed due to elections and political uncertainty. Recently, l-G has approved the policy of VIP numbers but election commission is yet to give its nod to issue notification. On the other hand, the policy on e-rickshaw is also pending with the lieutenant-Governor for approval.