Saturday, February 28, 2009

Railways throws 2010 road project off track

Wants Public Works Department To Seek Clearance On Land Again

The construction of Ring Road bypass from Salimgarh Fort to Velodrome Road, a critical traffic link for the Commonwealth Games, has run into another roadblock. This time it is the Northern Railway (NR) that’s delaying the project.

The Public Works Department (PWD) had requested NR to construct one carriageway of the bypass as a road underbridge (RUB) on Old railway bridge and a bridge over the feeder railway line near Rajghat Power House. For execution of these works, NR had submitted an estimate of over Rs 45.5 crore which was accepted and the amount was paid in October 2008, a senior PWD official said.

Sources said that the PWD, through its various correspondences and meetings with railways, had presumed that the estimate also included the approval for construction of the Ring Road bypass on railways’ land adjacent to the tracks. However, NR now wants the state government to seek formal approval from it regarding leasing or transfer of land.

But with time running out for completion of the project, PWD is not prepared to take any chances. Sources said that project manager, Commonwealth Games, Sarwagya Srivastava, sent a letter to NR general manager Vivek Sahay on Wednesday pointing out all the facts and emphasizing that construction of the bypass must be completed at the earliest. The PWD has asked railways to accord requisite permission to lease or transfer land measuring 2520 square metre on priority basis. Chief PRO (NR) Rajiv Saxena said he was not aware of such a letter as of now and would only be able to respond by Monday.

It’s not the first time that the bypass has been delayed. First it was the ASI that had objected to the alignment of the bypass which was initially very close to the Salimgarh Fort. The PWD changed the alignment but then the Delhi Urban Art Commission raised its red flag objecting to certain portions of the project.

In the deadlock situation, government sought the intervention of LG Tejendra Khanna to clear the project. STUCK IN RED TAPE

Northern Railway (NR) asks PWD to seek permission for transfer/lease of railways land on which a part of Ring Road bypass is to be built PWD had paid over Rs 45.5 crore to NR to construct one carriageway of the bypass as a road underbridge on Old railway bridge and a bridge over the feeder railway line near Rajghat Power House Now, project manager, Commonwealth Games, has written to NR to accord permission for the lease of land

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