ITO flyover plan resurfaces
August 23, 2008
New Delhi:
Here's one more indication that BRT
project on the Ambedkar Nagar-Delhi Gate route may have been
given a silent burial. Efforts are now on - largely at the behest
of state finance minister and Geeta Colony MLA A K Walia - to revive
the ITO flyover project that had officially been kept in abeyance
for the BRT pilot project.
The chief secretary on Friday chaired a meeting of PWD officials
and BRT experts - including IIT professor Geetam Tiwari, one
of the brains behind the BRT project - to discuss the flyover
project. There were, however, no concrete decisions taken in the
meeting. Another meeting has been called on Saturday where members
of the court-appointed Bhure Lal Committee that had stressed the
need for BRT in Delhi will also be present.
The timing is significant with elections just round the corner.
The flyover is sure to appease Walia's East
Delhi electorate but there are political equations which might
just scuttle his plans given the fact that nobody has yet officially
pronounced BRT dead and the chief minister is believed to be keen
on the project.
Though for the most part, the meeting discussed ways to accommodate
BRT, PWD officials present in the meeting were not too interested
about the bus project which has already drawn a lot of flak on the
Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand route. "There is a lot of
confusion but also a very strong will to get the flyover project
moving,'' said a senior official present in the meeting.
Speaking to Times City, Walia was categorical that BRT "if at all
it happens in ITO'' has to go over the flyover as letting it pass
from under it would defeat the very purpose of the flyover which
is to give residents of east Delhi a signal free ride right up to
Connaught Place.
"The original plan was to have a flyover at Bahadur Shah Zafar
Marg along with parking underneath it and two half flyovers at Ring
Road to ensure that it is signal free from Madhuban Chowk. The design
was made and clearances from DDA
and DUAC were obtained when the project was stalled because of the
pilot BRT project. But now that BRT has stopped, we are determined
to revive this project because it is very important for a large
number of people from east Delhi,'' he said.
The flyover project had never been officially junked and there
had been numerous meetings in the early days of BRT to find a way
that would suit both lobbies.
Source: The Times of India
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