AAP seeks probe into ‘10-yr’ delay in project
employees were seen giving finishing touches to the services below the flyover such as ramps around the pillars as well as levelling the parking area. Near the gurdwara at the Azad Market crossing, construction equipment were still lying on both sides of the road.
Detailing the feature of the project during the inauguration ceremony, Union minister for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri had said the project was one among the multiple long-delayed projects in Delhi and its status was brought to his notice during a review meeting last year. “There are several other projects that have been stalled from a long time, causing inconvenience to the people of the Delhi. To complete such projects, political will and a strong leadership are needed,” he said. NEWDELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday accused BJPruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) of deliberately delaying the work on Rani Jhansi Flyover to shoot up project costs and get commission worth crores, a claim that the corporation rebutted.
Senior AAP leader Dilip Pandey, who is in-charge of northeast parliamentary seat, told reporters that the project, whose cost was initially pegged at just Rs 70 crore, was completed at Rs 700 crore with a ten-year delay so that BJP leaders get commission. Pandey demanded a probe by a Central Bureau of Investigation (Cbi)-like agency in the alleged irregularities.
“We have been raising objections to the delay in the project. The delay was not coincidental. There were irregularities in the land acquisition and also the construction material used. It was never investigated and the Union government is taking credit for the project commissioned by Bjp-ruled municipal corporation,” Pandey said.
“These irregularities should be investigated by an agency like CBI,” Pandey said
On Tuesday, the 1.6-km-long flyover, originally scheduled to be completed by 2010, was opened to public. The flyover from St Stephen’s Hospital to Filmistan Cinema missed many deadlines.
Rejecting t he allegation, Mayor of north corporation, Adesh Gupta, hit out at AAP for “always finding faults” in development work. “We have been trying our best to complete the projects like these, delayed for long. We ran short of money and the Centre came to our rescue while monitoring the progress of the flyover. AAP wants to take away the credit from us because they know it will benefit lakhs of people passing through the area on daily basis,” Gupta said.
THE 1.6KM FLYOVER, WHICH RUNS FROM ST STEPHEN’S HOSPITAL TO FILMISTAN CINEMA, WAS MEANT TO DECONGEST MOST AREAS IN CENTRAL DELHI