This team was led by Vishva Mohan Bansal, Secretary DDA, and comprised among others Ramvir Singh Bidhuri (who has since been defeated from Badarpur), sitting BJP MLA Sahib Singh Chauhan and Mahabal Misra, municipal councilor. Bidhuri, when contacted by Express Newsline today, claimed he was under no obligation to share his experiences for the benefit of the capital's residents.

The DDA spends more than $ 300 (approximately Rs 13,500) per day on each official on a foreign trip. That means the DDA coughed up around Rs 30 lakh on the trip. When contacted, DDA Vice Chairman P.K. Ghosh confirmed that a little more than $ 300 is spent each day on each member of the team. But nobody in the DDA is willing to comment on how much more exactly. The Indian embassies in the countries visited facilitated the trip, sources say.

``It is not for the MLA to do a babu's (clerk's) job. I had gone abroad in national interest and now it is for Bansal and the DDA officers to file a report,'' Bidhuri said. He even refused to state the purpose of his visit abroad. ``It is not proper for me to say why had I gone. After all I am no longer an ex-officio member of the DDA. Ask Bansal, he will tell you why had we gone,'' he added.

Despite persistent requests, Bidhuri refused to state the purpose of his visit to the four south-east Asian countries. ``It was in the national interest. A trip for the people. I did not plan it. Ask the Union minister for Urban Affairs. After all he cleared it. They told me to pack my bags and go. So I went. I did not lobby for the trip,'' Bidhuri insisted.

In fact, Union Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani had to admit to Parliament, in reply to a question, that none of the teams had filed a report yet.

Bansal conceded that the Jethmalani was ``totally right'' and admitted he had not filed the report but blamed the delay on the Assembly elections. ``Actually, after we came back the MLAs got busy with elections and have yet to give their clearance to the report. But rest assured, the report will be submitted to the correct quarters soon,'' he said. He too refused to state why had they gone abroad. ``You will know soon. Probably within two weeks,'' he added.

In November, R.K. Bhandari, DDA's member (engineering), led another five-member team to Thailand, Singapore, China, Japan and Malaysia, to study flyovers and for a technology exchange programme. The report is yet to be filed.

Neemo Dhar, the DDA spokesperson, said that there was a proposal to construct flyovers in Wazirabad, Vikas Marg, Noida crossing, Jail Road, Ring Road (Nelson-Mandela Marg), Mehrauli-Mahipalpur Road and on National Highway-21. But nobody knows when. This team comprised Director (transport) Prakash Narain, Commissioner (planning) Vijay Risbud, Director (material management) S.C. Tayal and A.K. Acharya, officer on special duty at the Raj Nivas.

Acharya today described the trip as ``fruitful'' and said that they were planning to make a ``video presentation'' about flyover construction, utility diversions, group housing constructions, multi-layer parking etc.

DDA sources told Express Newsline that there was a proposal to make multi-layered parking in Delhi too, especially for vehicles around Nehru Place and the ISKON temple. But then again, not many are sure when the proposal will take a concrete form.