Jaipur times its projects perfectly with polls

The current year will be one of inaugurations for Jaipur, with several long-pending infrastructure projects finally being thrown open to the public. It is no coincidence that 2013 is also an election year.

Three major projects — Ghat ki Ghuni tunnel, Ramnivas Bagh underground parking and Gurjjar ki Thadi underpass — are set for inauguration by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi during the Congress Chintan Shivir from January 18 to 20. Urban development officers say the tunnel will be opened on January 19 while the dates for the other two projects are yet to be finalised. Later in the year, a 9-km Metro corridor from Mansarovar to Chandpole will be opened.

The three projects slated for inauguration this weekend are all behind schedule. Over the last couple of months, they had been left unattended despite nearing completion. Sources said the Congress-led government was looking for an occasion and nothing could have worked better than have the Prime Minister or UPA chairperson to inaugurate them just ahead of the polls.

The underpass project was taken up by the Jaipur Development Authority in October 2009 with an April 2011 target for completion. When it got delayed indefinitely, the civic body blamed it on the Metro construction work in the area.

The two-level parking project was stuck in public litigation for five years before it was cleared in January 2010. The JDA started work and promised to deliver it by April 2012. The project, which has seen three postponements, is expected to ease much of the parking problems in a walled city that sees the movement of an average 27,000 cars and 64,000 two-wheelers every day.

The tunnel, 2.8 km long, is expected to streamline traffic on the Eastern Gateway to the city connecting to Agra Road on NH 11. Once slated for completion in June 2012, the project entailed greening on either side of the tunnel but Chinese-made, green plastic plants have been brought in by the JDA to give the area a green look. The plastic plants will be cleverly camouflaged with some tall natural plants.

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