`100cr released for Signature Bridge project

In a move that is set to expedite the construction of the much-delayed Signature Bridge, the Delhi government has released ` 100 crore for the project. The project was hit by a “fund crunch”, slowing down its last phase construction, tourism minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said on Monday.

He said the finance department sanctioned the amount after examining the contractor’s demand for an additional ` 250 crore. The `1500 crore project is running seven years behind schedule.

“The fresh infusion of funds will ensure that work, which had considerably slowed down, resumes. Around 92 per cent of the project is completed. We might release more depending on the justification of the demand,” he said.

The government has set December 2017 as the deadline for the project, located over the Yamuna in Wazirabad. In January, lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal had directed the authorities concerned to send to him a monthly progress report of the project.

A bow shaped steel pylon of the bridge, which was conceptualised by the Sheila Dikshit government in 2004, will be twice as high as the Qutub Minar. It is being executed by the Delhi tourism department.

Being built on the lines of the London Bridge, it was meant to be showcased during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The initial project cost was pegged at around ` 1,131 crore, which was later revised to ` 1,575 crore.

Since early 2015, after AAP started monitoring the project, the deadline shifted twice. In September 2016, a “final” deadline in April 2017 had been set. It was then moved to September 2017. The latest deadline is the end of this year.

Mr Gautam, who had inspected the bridge earlier this month, had written to the chief secretary, saying that the work should not go on beyond December 31, this year, under any circumstances. Mr Gautam’s visit was followed by an inspection of the bridge by Mr Baijal in January this year when the deadline of September 30, 2017 was fixed.