Games over, not city makeover

Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010



The zeal with which various agencies drew up schemes and plans in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games  was missing when it came to executing them. Deadlines were missed and repeatedly extended. It was pretended that projects that couldn't make it were never a part of the Games makeover anyway. That's how the agencies put up a brave — or brazen — face, depending on the way you look at it. With the Games deadline gone, Ruhi Bhasin and Ambika Pandit take a close look at pending work, lest the agencies forget what they promised

Chandni Chowk | MCD

Chandni Chowk, a popular tourist destination in the capital, may not get its promised facelift even after the Games. According to officials, ''the project has been put on the backburner and the civic agency will now look into the viability of implementation of the plan''. MCD has been planning the redevelopment of the entire area for over six years now, but the work never took off. It had even hired consultants to come up with plans for the area. Before the Games, it had claimed it would at least rebuild the central verge in the Walled City. But this also did not happen. According to officials, getting requisite approvals from various agencies led to the delays. The infrastructure in Chandni Chowk is in a very bad shape. The roads are congested and even shopkeepers have been demanding improvement.

Connaught Place | NDMC

Be prepared to see CP dug up again by first week of November. With the Games over, NDMC will now finish all pending works of the CP redevelopment plan. The civic body was supposed to improve the facade and parking lots of all 16 blocks, upgrade existing subways and construct eight new subways besides finishing work on the service corridor in Middle Circle. Before the Games, 90% of the facade work and construction of parking lots was completed. But NDMC still has to finish work on the service corridor and upgrade the existing five subways by installing escalators. Construction of eight new subways will also start. ''We will start work by November first week. The contract expires in June 2011 and work should be completed by then. New subways will be constructed in a phased manner,'' said NDMC spokesperson Anand Tiwari.

Ring Road Bypass and Signature Bridge | PWD

The Ring Road bypass — a critical link for traffic moving from east parts of Delhi to the heart of the city — was built at over Rs 500 crore. While it was completed just in time for the Games, officials say pending works include construction of service road, railings and landscaping — which will be completed by December. Work on Signature Bridge, meanwhile, is moving at a snail's pace. The project — initially pitched as the highlight of the Games — was sanctioned at a cost of over Rs 1,100 crore. It is now looking at a 2013 deadline.

Toilets-cum-coffee homes | MCD

This project has been shrouded in controversy since its inception. While seven complexes have been constructed to date, these are unlikely to be open to public anytime soon. While MCD had earlier said 250 of them would be ready by Games, it claims the project was not Games-related. Now, the viability of is under review. In fact, the complex at Bahadurshah Zafar Marg was demolished. According to MCD, the complex had to be brought down as the construction firm did not participate in the financial and technical bid. According to sources, after protests by residents and MCD councillors, many companies backed out from the project.


Paharganj and Karol Bagh | MCD

While some beautification work in Paharganj and Karol Bagh area was carried out, streetscaping and laying underground cables, etc, is still ongoing. According to MCD officials, delay by other agencies in laying their services underground resulted in some hitches. An official said, ''Heavy rain in the monsoon season led to postponement of work in some cases. Other agencies took time in completing work of laying underground services. Now, all work will be finished by March 31.'' In many other colonies such as Greater Kailash, Defence Colony, etc, streetscaping work is not over. ''Priority was given to finishing work in and around the Commonwealth Games venues,'' said an official.

Parking sites | MCD

Of the 24 conventional parking sites that were to be constructed, at least four had to be ready before the Games. By October 3, however, not even one site could be completed. To save face, the civic agency had claimed these projects were not Games-related. Work on the two stack parking sites — at Paharganj and Karol Bagh — was also never taken up even as both projects were directly linked to the Games. ''Half of the 24 conventional parking sites were rejected by EPCA. Only 12 are being constructed now. These will be completed by September 2011. On the stack parkings, we did not start work since we were not satisfied with the material being used. So we decided to defer work till the Games was over,'' said an MCD official.

Railway underbridge, overbridge | MCD

This project, too, missed its deadline and the civic agency eventually said it had nothing to do with the Games — that it was not supposed to be completed by October 2010. Out of 16 railway bridges, work on only 13 was finally taken up. ''The ones related directly to the Games included the railway underbridge at Prem Nagar — which has been inaugurated — and that constructed at Vivek Vihar. Our work is over at Vivek Vihar and the railways has to do its bit now. We hope all work will be completed by March 31. Other projects will be completed only by September next year,'' said an official.

FoBs along Barapullah | PWD

The under-construction foot-overbridge outside Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium collapsed just on the eve of the Commonwealth Games and an inquiry was set up. Following this, the project remained frozen. Another foot-overbridge — that was supposed to come up near Sewa Nagar railway crossing as a pedestrian link to Lodi Colony — was also stalled in view of the collapse. Both foot-overbridges were estimated to cost the government about Rs 11 crore. PWD says a major chunk of this amount — that was spent on the foundation at the two sites — now lies waste. If constructed again, it would cost the civic body about Rs 60 lakh. While it is for the government to take a call on whether it wants to go ahead with the two foot-overbridges or not, once the Barapullah elevated road is made functional, pedestrian traffic will need some facility to cross over.

UP link road flyover | PWD

While the flyover — built at a cost of Rs 300 crore — was opened to public during the Games, some work is still incomplete. Finishing work will soon be carried out and the final bituminous layer, apart from the pavements and slip road, will be laid. PWD says the flood situation did not leave them with enough time to lay the pavements or carry out landscaping and streetscaping. Three FOBs will also be constructed on the route. All this will be finished by the year-end.


Shivaji Stadium | NDMC

While Shivaji Stadium was to be the Games practice venue for hockey, it was struck off the list as a lot of work was pending even on September 15 — the date for handover to the organising committee. NDMC claims court cases delayed the upgrading process. Work started only in the latter half of 2008. Now, NDMC claims the hockey grounds are ready but work of constructing sports faculty block, two-level basement for parking, including electrical and fire fighting, etc, is still in progress. The damaged barrel line has also not been realigned. The total cost of constructing the stadium is Rs 150 crore. According to NDMC, all works are likely to be completed soon.



Barapullah | PWD

The east-south link — that takes commuters from Sarai Kale Khan to Lodi Road in a mere five-seven minutes— is likely to be opened by the end of October for light vehicles. The unfinished work under phase-I of the project includes the two links required to bring traffic from Lala Lajpat Rai Marg near Jangpura to the elevated corridor. So far, a total of Rs 400 crore has been spent and the connecting links — which are likely to be ready by December-end — and are expected to cost Rs 30-40 crore. The government will then deliberate on the feasibility of phase-II that proposes to take the elevated road up to Aurobindo Marg and phase-III, which would connect it to UP Link Road.


Gole Market | NDMC

The ambitious plan to restore the heritage status of the Gole market area by removing all commercial activity from the vicinity has fallen victim to prolonged litigation. Redevelopment work of the main roundabout arena, which had an August-2010 deadline, is yet to be taken up. NDMC had begun work of redeveloping the heritage market in May last year after serving final eviction notices to the 30-odd shops at the main roundabout arena. While it started work on upgrading the market's outer periphery, work on the main arena hit a roadblock soon after as many of the evicted shopkeepers approached Delhi high court seeking a stay on the construction activity. The civic body had also planned to construct a museum inside Gole Market and was also looking at opening a restaurant in the area.

Palika Bazaar | NDMC

The underground shopping hub was supposed to get a ''mall-like look'' before the Games. While work to revamp the market had started several months back, the civic agency could not meet its Games deadline. NDMC now claims that the market needs only ''finishing touches''. While escalators were supposed to have been installed at various entry/exit points in the market, work on this is yet to take off. Work on creating a false ceiling is also pending. According to officials, all pending works of the Rs 22-crore project are likely to be completed by this year-end. Traders in Palika Bazaar had to put up with frequent power cuts and no air-conditioning during the initial stages of the renovation work. The redevelopment work includes installing fancy lights, new airconditioning systems and changing the flooring.

Original news source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Games-over-not-city-makeover/articleshow/6771981.cms#ixzz12mMupuBI