Work on Signature Bridge delayed due to fund crunch
NEWDELHI: The much-awaited Signature Bridge, which will reduce travel time between north Delhi and northeast Delhi, and Ghaziabad, is likely to be delayed again due to fund crunch, said an official. In July 2017, the Aam Aadmi Party government had released ₹100 crore for the bridge and set a deadline of completion of March 2018 but it was rescheduled to May 2018.
The officials of the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) — the agency responsible for executing the project — said construction work “might get stopped” if funds are not released soon. “We have limited funds to carry out work for a few days. We need ₹231 crore more to complete the construction work. Out of ₹1,575 crore of revised estimates we have got ₹1,344 crore,” the official said requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to media.
The government blamed the heads of the departments for the delay in releasing the funds. “It seems that the principal secretary (finance), principal secretary (PWD) and secretary (tourism) have not been able to decide on requirements for funds for completion of the project since last three months,” stated a letter issued to chief secretary Anshu Prakash by Sisodia’s office.
Sisodia directed Prakash to call a meeting of all the three officers. “The next instalment of payment be released as discussed in budgetary estimate/revised estimate meetings immediately,” the communiqué said.
A PWD official said there was some mismatch in the amount of funds proposed by the DTTDC and approved by previous principal secretary PWD, which is leading to a delay in release of funds.