As no provisions have been made for stairs and drainage at the Bijwasan railway overbridge, the Opposition Congress in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has demanded an inquiry into the project.
At the Budget session of the SDMC on Tuesday, Deputy Mayor and area councillor Praveen Rana said there were number of concerns regarding the project at Bijwasan village.
“The strength of some pillars has been found unsatisfactory. There is no provision made for drains under the railway track, so the underpass gets flooded, and the locals and passengers will have to walk 2 km as there are no stairs,” said Mr. Rana.
The railway overbridge and underbridge projects have been delayed for years, and now questions over the structural integrity have emerged. The BJP leadership in the civic body has maintained that the allegations are yet to be proved. The civic body is working towards opening the flyover soon.
The Deputy Mayor, however, said there was negligence on the part of the SDMC to allow the project to go through despite so many problems.
“Those whose land was acquired have also not been compensated correctly and given alternate space, like those who were displaced by other projects, including the Rani Jhansi Road grade separator,” said Mr. Rana.
A senior engineer associated with the project admitted that the design of the ROB/RUB did not have provisions for a staircase and drains. “The railways had submitted the drawings and our officers signed off on them without seeing that essential provisions were included,” said the SDMC engineer.
The drains were included in the SDMC estimates; however, the Railways’ drawings did not. The engineer added that “the Railways cannot be blamed for the civic body’s negligence” as the SDMC had not raised the issue then. Work on the project started in 2008 and was supposed to have been over by November 2012.
Leader of the House Radhay Shyam Sharma said the issues raised by Mr. Rana are yet to be investigated.
“We will not endanger people’s lives, but we cannot comment on the allegations without getting more information from the Engineering Department,” said Mr. Sharma.
He said a team will be constituted to look into the structural safety of the project and the possibility of constructing a staircase, which was the Opposition Congress’ demand.
