RAJE’S PRE-POLL SHOWCASE
The CM is hoping two grand new projects will shore up her image
Jaipur has two brand new landmarks rapidly nearing completion—a 47-km riverfront development along the length of the seasonal Dravyavati rivulet, and a 90 metre wide road fringing the city in the south. Touted as Vasundhara Raje’s dream projects, the two will cost an estimated Rs 3,000 crore.
Personally monitored by the chief minister since work commenced two years ago, the riverfront project is being partly paid for through a loan from the National Capital Region Planning Board while the road construction is being done by the National Highway Authority of India. Raje hopes to showcase both projects in time for the state assembly elections, due in December.
Originating in the Nahargarh hills, the Dravyavati carries rain water through Jaipur every monsoon, eventually emptying itself in the Dhoond river. Over the years, it had became a dumping ground for the city’s sewage, with rampant encroachments along both its banks. In 1981, the congestion caused a huge flood that took eight lives.
Now, besides removing the encroachments and setting up multiple sewage treatment plants (STPs), the project includes paving the length of the Dravyavati’s banks with concrete and cobblestone. Riverbank roads, walking paths, cycle tracks, three extensive gardens, eateries and recreation centres are also planned. The project will free some 800,000 square metres of prime
riverfront land that will be sold to recover Rs 1,600 crore of the cost. Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) commissioner Vaibhav Galleria, who is heading the project, says three dams along the river course have been repaired, and check dams are being constructed every 300 metres, to ensure year-round flow in the rivulet.
Raje says it will be “an oasis in the desert, which will make Jaipur a better, more desirable city”. And it’s fast nearing completion. By midAugust, she says, almost the entire length of the rivulet will have street lighting parts of it even wi-fi.
Close to the Jaipur international airport and at the downstream end of the Dravyavati, the southern corridor of what will be a ring road around Jaipur, is also close to completion.
RAJE SAYS THE RIVERFRONT PROJECT WILL BE “AN OASIS IN THE DESERT” FOR JAIPUR
Conceived by Raje in 2007, the previous Congress government gave the contract in 2011 but the project remained mired in delays.
Raje’s persistence eventually paid off, with Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari agreeing to build the central 60 metre section of the 90 metre wide transportation corridor. When completed, it will significantly reduce congestion due to highway traffic that has to pass through Jaipur city. The project has released 6.8 million square metres of land, which is simultaneously being developed by the JDA.
The BJP hopes to showcase the two projects in the assembly elections by drawing comparisons with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s failed metro rail project, which did little to alleviate Jaipur’s traffic snarls.