The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, has welcomed the inquiry ordered by Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal into the erstwhile Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor in south Delhi.
Alleging “whimsical expenditure of the public exchequer” in both the “construction and subsequent dismantling” of the corridor, Mr. Gupta demanded an “impartial investigation” in the matter through the Chief Technical Examiner, under the supervision of the Central Vigilance Commission.
Mr. Gupta said that a full probe must be done into the construction of the 4.5-km-long BRT — from Moolchand Hospital to Ambedkar Nagar — at a cost of about ₹180 crore by the then Congress government in 2008, and its dismantling at a cost of around ₹11 crore by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Many questions
The LoP stated that “the L-G may consider” inquiring into whether the government had surveyed the volume of traffic on the stretch and whether the suggestions of the then five MLAs of the area were taken before according administrative approval for construction of the BRT corridor.
“Who were the consultants engaged for preparation of the concept report for the BRT? What were the criterion of appointment and money paid for the job? What were the standards fixed for construction of the BRT? Were there any shortcomings in design or concept responsible for the decision to dismantle the BRT? Was the construction material used below standards?” Mr. Gupta asked.
The BJP leader said the original estimated cost and actual final expenditure must also be found out. He also demanded to know on what technical basis was the BRT dismantled by the AAP government.
