Delhi PWD Minister Satyendra Jain met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday at his office and requested him to expedite the work on Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Western Peripheral Expressway. The Delhi Government has already paid Rs653.50 crore, far in excess of its original share of Rs422 crore. But the work has been stopped as the construction company has moved the arbitration and left the project abandoned.
The Delhi Government is also under pressure from the National Green Tribunal to reduce congestion and pollution level in the national Capital. Reiterating the earlier stand of lieutenant Governor (l-G) Najeeb Jung, Delhi PWD Minister made it clear that it is not in a position to bear the burden of escalating cost of Western Peripheral Expressway and Eastern Peripheral Expressway projects.
It may be noted that both l-G and the Chief Secretary of Delhi had earlier written to the Union Ministry to expedite the projects and exempt Delhi from further contribution as it has limited sources of revenue.
The Delhi Government was asked to bear 50 per cent cost of the Rs844 crore project. But the total project cost has now been revised to Rs3,589.56 crore after four revisions. Three concerned States — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana — were to share the cost of construction in the ratio of 50:25:25 respectively. Initially, Delhi's share was Rs422 crores and Delhi paid its share up to the 1st revision of cost i.e. Rs653.50 crores within the prescribed time i.e. 2006.
Earlier, responding to Gadkari's letter to contribute more on the projects, l-G Jung had written a letter in December 2014 and sought exemption of Delhi from further contribution.
The l-G had stated that several measures such as shutting borders to commercial vehicles, especially during festive occasions, marriage seasons and public celebrations, have proved inadequate. "In fact, were we to keep the traffic shut for longer hours in the evening so as to enable the domestic traffic to disperse before allowing the commercial vehicles to enter and pass through Delhi, the roads in Haryana, including Gurgaon, would be choked.
Therefore Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Western Peripheral Expressway are beneficial for all concerned i.e Delhi and the neighbouring States — UP and Haryana. Cost escalation due to delays in construction and land acquisition could be curtailed by time-bound completion of the projects," the letter said.
l-G Jung also stated that there are several aspects of the inordinate delayed Peripheral Expressway projects that are critical for Delhi. "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," he said.
The two expressways, running through Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, aim to decongest Delhi roads, but are running years behind 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 signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal, the Western Expressway connects Kundli to Palwal via Manesar in Haryana.