Work on Barapullah-3, Signature Bridge projects comes to a halt
Cable related work is being conducted on a slow pace. A residential camp of workers was on Tuesday inundated by water and the men shifted to safer places.
A DTTDC OFFICIAL, on the Signature Bridge project
NEW DELHI: The swelling of the Yamuna has halted construction work on two major projects of the city — Barapulla Phase-3 elevated corridor and the Signature Bridge — on the riverbed.
Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) said that construction work on Barapullah Phase-3 elevated corridor, that will connect Sarai Kale Khan in south Delhi to Mayur Vihar-1 in the east, has been temporarily stopped and heavy machines have been removed from the site due to the rising water level.
On Tuesday, the water level in the Yamuna reached 206.50 metres. A senior PWD official said that construction work on the 3.5km Phase 3 elevated corridor was halted 10 days ago when the river first started swelling.
“This is the first time we have completely halted the construc- tion work because of floods. Last year, there were no floods so we continued construction activities but this year Yamuna’s water has reached the site because of which we had to completely stop the work and remove the machines,” said the official.
He added that work that has been impacted includes shifting of a high-tension electricity line passing above the proposed corridor, construction of pier tables and launching of girders.
Over 50% work has been completed in the phase-3 project till now and authorities hope to complete the remaining by 2020 — a delay of almost three years with the project having already missed its original deadline of October 2017. Once completed, it will cut the travel time between east and south Delhi to 20 minutes from the current 60 minutes.
SIGNATURE BRIDGE
The officials of Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) — the agency responsible for executing the project — said that apart from the cable-related work, all other construction activities on the Signature Bridge project has been suspended due to the swelling of the Yamuna.
Signature Bridge is India’s first asymmetric cables-stayed bridge with a bow shaped steel pylon which is double the height of the Qutub Minar. This pylon will be supported by cables.
“The cable related work is being conducted on a slow pace. A residential camp of workers was on Tuesday inundated by the rising water and the men and their families have been shifted to safer places. Finishing work on the project has been stopped,” a DTTDC official said.
Around 95% construction work of the Signature Bridge has been completed. The project was conceptualised in 2004 and got Delhi Cabinet’s nod in 2007. It was scheduled to be completed before the 2010 Commonwealth Games but missed the deadline. The deadline of the project is October 31 this year. Once operational, it is expected to reduce travel time by at least 30 minutes for commuters going to Ghaziabad via Khajuri Khas, Yamuna Vihar from Wazirabad, Timarpur, Mukherjee Nagar and Burari.