Seamless connectivity between east and south Delhi via Barapullah flyover will not materialise till the answer to a multi-crore rupee question is found — what should be the exact location of three to four concrete pillars meant to support more than one-third of the elevated portion of the stretch on the Yamuna floodplain?
Private land
These pillars, which are meant to support around 3.5-km of the 10-km-long flyover being constructed at a cost of ₹964 crore between Mayur Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan, happen to fall on an estimated eight-acre swath of private land, whose owners are demanding ₹7 crore per acre from the Delhi government as compensation.
“Around eight to nine acres is under contention, with some residents of the area demanding a compensation of ₹7 crore per acre in return for handing over the ownership. Three to four concrete pillars need to be erected on the floodplain to support the flyover. Acquisition proceedings are on and are currently at the stage of a socio-economic impact assessment,” said a senior government official.
Four separate phases
The entire corridor, composed of four separate phases, is intended as a signal-free corridor dedicated to commuters travelling between east Delhi and the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the future with a ripple effect on and easing congestion across the city.
However, phase III of the flyover, on which construction began by the Public Works Department in 2015, will miss its construction deadline yet again due to land acquisition issue. The problem, according to a source, even came up for an informal discussion by Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal at Raj Niwas last week.
“We first need to ascertain whether the entire swath of land below the intended pillars needs to be taken up or just the amount of land that is needed for the pillars per se. This needs to be decided before we take a call on how much land must be acquired,” said the official.
“The PWD has also been instructed by the L-G to explore whether land in exchange for the land where the pillar need to come up can be provided to the residents on the same floodplain. But that too will require the latter’s assent,” claimed another official.
A senior PWD official, however, blamed the delay in identifying private agencies meant to carry out the socio-economic impact assessment, which is currently being undertaken. The official admitted that procedural delays resulting from this would delay completion of the project by over a year, if not two, pushing the date of its completion and utilisation to 2019.
Feasibility study
According to another official, a feasibility study on phase IV of the project is currently underway and will pave the way for extension of the project to the airport, as originally envisioned. The main component of the exercise is ascertaining the availability of land across south Delhi, where it is criss-crossed by government, private and inter-departmental ownership.
