Minto Bridge project to miss Games deadline

With this,the Northern Railways’ plan to add two more tracks to the bridge and widen the structure will now miss the Games deadline.

The decision to provide two additional tracks was taken in 2003 to enhance inter-state connectivity of the Capital before the Games. Since the road right below the bridge is narrower compared to that on either side,the Northern Railways also proposed to widen the bridge to “maintain uniformity”.

“As per normal procedure,the cost of widening is to be shared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi,Railways and NDMC,as one side of the area falls under the MCD and the other is under NDMC jurisdiction. A sum of Rs 400 lakh was released during 2003-04 on the demand of Railways,” a Railways official said.

As per the plan,the MCD and NDMC were to redevelop and widen the areas under them. While MCD claims it completed its part of the job,the Northern Railways and the NDMC have not carried out any work in their respective areas.

Swaroop blamed the delay on getting requisite permissions: “Traffic in the area will have to be restricted for six months so that work can be carried out. The Police Commissioner,however,refused to grant us permission. He said there was enough traffic chaos because of the redevelopment work being carried out in Connaught Place.”

In August last year,an evaluation study by the Comptroller and Auditor General had painted a grim picture of 35 infrastructure projects that had to be completed before Games. It had listed over 20 projects that ran a “high risk” of missing the deadline — the Minto Bridge project was among one of them.