Nearly a decade in the making, the Rani Jhansi Road grade separator is still under construction and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which is making it, can’t say for sure when it will be done.
Meant to ease congestion, the 1.6-km-long flyover from St. Stephen’s Hospital to Filmistan Cinema was supposed to have been completed in 2011. Though it was proposed by the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 1998, construction only began in 2008, only to face roadblocks almost throughout the process. Acquiring land took the North Corporation, which took over from the MCD in 2012, till 2015.
New deadline
In 2016, the BJP-ruled Corporation set a new deadline — January 2017. Now, as March comes to a close and the term of the municipal corporation is about to end, construction on the project is still pending.
Vijay Prakash Pandey, the Leader of the House in the North Corporation, said “over 75%” work had been completed and that the target to finish the project was July or August.
“It should get completed this year,” he said.
NO WAY: The 1.6-km-long Rani Jhansi Road grade separator, meant to ease congestion from St. Stephen’s Hospital to Filmistan Cinema, has been under construction for nearly a decade now. A photograph of the construction in March 2017.
Lack of govt support
Mr. Pandey said the process of land acquisition, shifting of utilities and shops, and giving compensation to those displaced had dragged on due to “lack of cooperation” from the Delhi government.
“The government was responsible for shifting utilities that were in the way. It took a long time for the Delhi Jal Board to shift its pipeline. It’s because of that that one of the columns couldn't be built,” said Mr. Pandey.
While the project has lingered, the cost shot up from the initial estimate of ₹70 crore, to the contract amount of ₹177.72 crore to the current estimate of ₹724.22 crore.
Mr. Pandey clarified that the cost of actual construction hadn't changed as the contract has a “no escalation clause”, but related expenditure, including compensation and land acquisition had increased over the years.
As the situation stands today, the land acquisition and shifting of utilities has been completed. The civil work remains, said Mr. Pandey.
Blame game
With elections to the municipal corporations on April 23, the Rani Jhansi Road grade separator was a white elephant that political parties are blaming each other for. The BJP has accused the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party governments of not cooperating, while the AAP has blamed the BJP of corruption.
The project was an election issue in 2012, too. At that time, the BJP had said in its manifesto that the flyover would be opened “soon”.
