Opinion is divided among the Congress leaders in Delhi on whether North-East Delhi should be made to wait till 2013 before the Signature Bridge connects it to the rest of Delhi across the Yamuna or whether in the meantime other bridges should be constructed across the river to ease traffic congestion here.
The Congress MP from North-East Delhi and party’s Delhi unit chief J. P. Agarwal had written to the Prime Minister some months ago about there being an inordinate delay in construction of the Signature Bridge that was first proposed in 1997.
Citing the sharp increase in the cost of the project, that was estimated to cost Rs.464 crore when approved by the Cabinet in February 2006, and is now being pegged at about Rs.1,200 crore, the Congress leader had suggested that it would be better if four or five ordinary bridges were instead constructed across the river for the same price.
But this reasoning of his does not find favour with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who believes the Signature Bridge would be a sort of gateway to Delhi from the northern side. “The entire area from the northern borders is being spruced up. The Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial is coming up at Singhu Border on G. T. Road and then the Mukarba Chowk area is being landscaped and beautified. Then people would get to see this magnificent bridge standing tall over the Yamuna,” she said, adding that it would become another landmark for the city.
As for the suggestion of having more bridges across the river, the Chief Minister insists that the problem is of creating connectivity on the side of the Outer Ring Road. “The bridge would take the traffic somewhere and there one needs space to create a connection. We are already working on the approach roads to the Signature Bridge and it would come up by 2013,” she said.
Delhi Public Works Department Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said the Department has now divided the bridge project into two parts. “Earlier the project was to have the main structure and the approach roads as one unit. But now they have been separated and the approach roads would be completed in 2010.”
As for the main structure, he said revised bids have been invited and Larsen and Toubro and Gammon are the two bidders. “The scrutiny of the bids is on and we would be moving forth with the project,” he added.
However, Mr. Chauhan said the PWD would also be undertaking feasibility studies of constructing more bridges across the Yamuna in North-East Delhi. “There are about four points that have been suggested and we would be looking into them to see if some relief can be provided to the people of the area.”
Chairman of the Trans-Yamuna Development Board Narendra Nath said he too was in favour of having a better connectivity for North-East Delhi and believed that more bridges should be constructed over the river till the time the Signature Bridge comes up.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Government is reviewing the cost of the Signature Bridge project and has asked the Delhi Tourism and Travel Development Corporation to make a presentation on the justification for the revised project cost of Rs.887 crore, which in effect means a total cost of Rs.1,195 crore if the cost of approach roads is also considered.
