Sisodia visits Signature Bridge to inspect work

■ Project was announced way back in 2004 ◗ Deputy CM promised to pay weekly visits at the site to speed up its completion

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday inspected work on the much awaited Signature Bridge on the Yamuna river and promised to pay weekly visits at the site to speed up its completion.

Construction of the bridge has been delayed, but once completed it will save travel time of millions of northeast Delhi residents and serve as a “crown” of Delhi tourism, he said.

In April, the CPWD had endorsed an additional estimate of around ` 231 crore of the DTTDC, raising hopes of its speedy completion. The Delhi government’s Public Works department ( PWD) had sought the Central Public Works Department( CPWD) “expert opinion” after the DTTDC had submitted a revised estimate of ` 1,575 crore for the bridge.

In April, the Delhi high court had pulled up the PWD and the DTTDC for “quibbling over” the amount to be paid for construction of the “long overdue” bridge.

The bridge, once will share the burden of vehicular traffic, currently being borne by the Wazirabad Bridge, used to commute to and from Delhi and Ghaziabad. The bridge will connect the Outer Ring Road on the western bank with the Wazirabad Road on the eastern side of the Yamuna.

Announced in 2004, the project received the Delhi Cabinet’s nod in 2007 and it was initially expected to be completed at a modified estimate of ` 1,131 crore before the Commonwealth Games, which were held in October 2010.

The bridge had obtained environmental clearance way back in in 2011.