New Delhi:
It may not be planned as a tunnel any more but the Commonwealth
Games Village-Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Link Road still seems
to have a lot of ground to cover before becoming a reality. Once
again a storm is brewing on the newly constituted DUAC front and
the road may be headed into the same turmoil as its predecessor,
the tunnel road.
Two days after the expenditure finance committee of Delhi government
gave its clearance to the road over Barapullah Nullah connecting
the two destinations and extending upto Dilli Haat - to
be constructed at a cost of Rs 499 crore - Delhi Urban Art
Commission is raising questions about how the project can be given
a green signal without obtaining the required design clearance
from the commission. PWD officials maintain that all clearances
including that from the Archaeological Survey of India have already
been obtained.
DUAC members though maintain that only the road alignment and
not its design had been approved by the previous dispensation
of DUAC and as such the government cannot go ahead with the road
project given the fact that the GoM had clearly said that DUAC
and ASI's approvals were essential for the progress of the project
as there are several important historical
monuments in the area.
DUAC chairman K T Ravindran said: "We have not even
seen the design so there is no question of clearing it. And unless
that is done the government cannot issue tenders for the project.
I am going to ask for a copy of the design for the perusal of
the commission. There are at least two very important monuments
near the road and any damage to them cannot be inflicted at any
cost."
The monuments referred by the DUAC chairman are the Khan-i-Khanan's
tomb - constructed in 1626-27 which was constructed for
Akbar's regent Bairam Khan's son and the white marble
from which was, during the later Mughal period used for the Safdarjung
Tomb - and the Barapullah Bridge that was constructed in
1611-12 during the reign of Jahangir and presently in a very advanced
stage of dilapidation with many experts suggesting that it should
be immediately closed to public to prevent its collapse.
S K Srivastav project manager (CWG
2010) in state PWD was clear that so far as the government
is concerned all clearances for the road project have been obtained.
"It has not only been cleared by DUAC but it is their concept
which has been adopted. They should have no problems with it at
all and we have also received ASI's clearance. After the new DUAC
members took over we received a letter saying that a copy of the
design should be sent to them after all other clearances have
been received and we are in the process of doing so."
PWD sources say that the root of the problem - which threatens
to become a re-run of the tunnel road drama - is the recent
change of guard in DUAC.
"The new dispensation cannot start looking at old
projects afresh. That way nothing will go ahead and already a
lot of time has been lost. This is a priority project and if such
objections keep getting raised we will never finish anything in
time," a senior official pointed out. The road, as
per the norm submitted to the EFC is expected to have a 15% cost
escalation with the PWS asking contractors to divide the work
into segments and use more equipment to make up for lost time.
The elevated road link over Barapullah drain between the Games
village and J N Stadium will serve over 10,000 athletes and support
staff. The road will cost about Rs 499 cr
The link road will begin from Sarai Kale Khan and stretch right
up to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The road will cover a total distance
of around 4.7 km
Travel time from Games Village site to J N Stadium via
Ashram
Chowk or Bhairon Road is around 25-30 minutes if traffic is smooth.
With jams, the journey can take an
hour or more
The proposed alternative link is expected to lower the duration
of journey from the Village to around 11 minutes. The height of
the elevated road will vary from 5.5 m to 12 m
Source: The Times of India
