NEW DELHI: They were suppose to have showcased Delhi as a key driver of India's economy and added shine to its image as a world-class city during the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Only that these projects were never completed, even after the Games got over four years ago. Some, a decade old, are still hanging fire and most are way behind schedule with just 20-30 per cent of the work done.
However, seven such projects may finally see completion as they are being taken up as top priorities by the Delhi administration.
Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, has the go-ahead to get cracking on seven major infrastructure projects in Delhi that have been pending for a while now. The cost overruns and delays in these game-changer projects have always been a serious issue, but none of the stakeholders have done anything about it so far.
It is no surprise that a few projects conceived decades ago are still stuck with no signs of nearing completion. The recurring delays and cost escalations have done a great deal of damage to the capital's image.
Many projects that were supposed to be ready before the Games got completed just a few months back. Take the case of the Connaught Place circle. It can be an example of how a project should not be planned and the worst one in terms of execution.
The British built it in just four years using old construction techniques, but it took the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) almost six years to redo Connaught Place. The project was conceptualized in 2007 and was to get over before the Games in 2010. The government agencies announced that the project would be completed by the end of 2013, but construction in some areas is still going on. The cost of the project escalated from `76 crore to `671 crore in these years.
Many other Delhi projects that were supposed to be completed before the Games have not even been initiated yet. Projects such as construction of 24 underground parking lots across the city, construction of a number of foot over-bridges, scores of modern public toilets and many more have repeatedly skipped deadlines.
The reasons for such delays are many. One of Delhi’s former chief secretaries attribute the delays to lack of a political will. “Lack of ‘political commitment’ and ‘willingness’ has caused huge losses to the exchequer in Delhi. One of the biggest mistakes has been starting construction before design and other project criteria are fully defined,” he said on condition of anonymity. The officer said the main cause behind the delays is that the government and businessmen are caught in a frustrating cycle of waiting on each other.
To push things in the right direction and to monitor projects worth over `5,000 crore that had lost crucial momentum, Jung has reviewed seven such projects and also visited the work sites. He has set new deadlines for these projects and expects the work to be done within the stipulated time frame. The projects being considered are:
Rani Jhansi Flyover
Conceived in: 1998
Estimated cost: Rs. 177 crore
Current cost: Rs. 300 crore
Sixteen years after it was first conceived, the 1.8-km long Rani Jhansi flyover that comes under North Municipal Corporation shows no sign of nearing completion. The project is intended to cover Rani Jhansi Road, Bara Hindu Rao, DCM Chowk, Azad Market and Baraf Khana Chowk to reach St Stephen's Hospital. The original deadline for its completion was 2010. No new date was set after the deadline was missed. The idea was mooted in 1998, but work began only in November 2008.
Due to the prolonged delay, the project cost has escalated from `177 crore to `300 crore.
Vikaspuri to Wazirabad signal-free
Conceived in: 2013
Estimated cost: Rs. 2,400 crore
Current cost: Expected to exceed by over 40 %
The project was undertaken by the Public Works Department in March 2013 to make the 17-km Vikaspuri-Wazirabad stretch signal-free. It was to be completed by May 2015 with an estimated cost of Rs. 2,400 crore.
The PWD was to construct six flyovers between Meera Bagh and Wazirabad in the first phase. While work on the two elevated corridors was stymied due to environmental issues, work on four components—Vikaspuri-Meera Bagh; Mangolpuri-Madhuban Chowk; Madhuban Chowk to Mukarba Chowk and Mukarba Chowk to Wazirabad—is on but behind schedule. “Our deadline is May 2015. We are lagging behind,” said a PWD official.
Officials say the road was to be widened but that got affected due to restrictions on cutting trees. The delay will increase project costs by more than 40 per cent and the deadline would be increased by around two years, he added.
Mandoli Jail Complex
Conceived in: 2008
Estimated cost: Rs. 168.51 crore
Current cost: Rs. 337 crore
The completion of an upcoming prison-complex in northeast Delhi’s Mandoli area has been delayed for the past few years. The Mandoli, which can accommodate between 3,700 and 4,500 inmates, was scheduled to be functional by June last year. The project was announced in 2008 and was expected to be ready by 2010. The Mandoli complex was planned to decongest Tihar prison. Due to delays, the cost of project has escalated from `168.51 crore to `337 crore.
Barapullah Elevated Corridor-Phase II
Work started: 2013
Estimated cost: Rs. 350 crore
Current cost: Rs. 450 crore
Work on the Barapullah Elevated Corridor (phase II) that will connect INA Market to Aurobindo Marg is going on at a snail’s pace due to activity at the Delhi Metro construction site nearby, say PWD officials.
Phase-II was inaugurated in 2013, but just 20 percent of the work has been completed despite the deadline of March 2015. The 3.98 km-long extended elevated road will have a dual carriageway of nine metres each. The project may get delayed for want of permission from the Railways to cross a railway line at Kotla Mubarakpur.
The project was proposed to connect South Delhi with East Delhi and is being implemented in three phases. While the tendered amount is `350 crore, the project cost is estimated to escalate to `450 crore.
Signature Bridge
Conceived in: 1997
Estimated cost: Rs. 459 crore
Current cost: Rs. 1,131 crore
The Signature Bridge, being built at Wazirabad in East Delhi at a cost of over `1,100 crore, has missed several deadlines. The Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation is executing the project that was first proposed in 1997.
The bridge was supposed to be completed by the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has slammed the corporation for its shoddy handling of the project. The report noted that delay in taking decisions by the state government has escalated the cost of the bridge by `672 crore. The estimated cost of the project was `459 crore in March 2006, but its current cost is `1,131. The cost of the project is expected to escalate further. The L-G has now fixed a new deadline of September 2014 for the project.
Sarita Vihar Underpass
Conceived in: 2008
Estimated cost: Rs. 127 crore
Current cost: Rs. 300 crore
The Sarita Vihar underpass was planned in 2008 to ensure seamless travel between Kalindi Kunj and Okhla Industrial Area. The underpass would reduce the distance between two locations to merely one kilometre from the existing nine km route. The project is being jointly executed by DDA and the Northern Railways. The road under bridge that passes under the Delhi-Mumbai rail lines, which is one of the busiest rail lines in India with more than 300 trains passing through the stretch daily, has been constructed by the Railways while the remaining portion of the project that includes the approach roads is yet to be constructed by the Delhi Development Authority. However, the DDA had stalled its share of work citing technical issues.
Work started in 2009 and the initial cost of the project has more than doubled from Rs. 127 crore to nearly Rs. 300 crore.