Inordinate delay in completion of Jehangir Chowk–Rambagh flyover has resulted in escalation of the project cost.
Official documents accessed through RTI revealed that thedeadline for completion of the project was in 2016. The original project costwas 200.74 crore.
“Now, the expected date of completion of the project is 31May 2019, subject to the condition that the weather/law and order shall remainsatisfactorily,” the RTI reply said, adding the project cost has gone up to Rs331.0 crore.
The information was provided by the Economic ReconstructionAgency (ERA) in response to an RTI filed by activist MM Shuja.
The 31 May is the latest deadline that the ERA has fixed forthe completion of the project. It has already missed many deadlines which hasled to the cost escalation of the project.
An ERA official, however, said the cost escalation was notbecause of the delay in completion of the project. “The estimated cost of Rs200 crore was only calculated for construction of flyover, and then we had madetwo complexes for rehabilitation of shopkeepers who were getting affected withthe project. Approximately Rs 100 crore was spent on the two complexes,” theofficial associated with the project said.
The flyover, which was announced in July 2009, in itsinitial phase, hit many roadblocks including litigations by traders and hurdlesin land acquisition.
The Asian Development Bank-funded project is being executedby ERA, with an aim to decongest traffic on the busy Airport-Jehangir Chowkroad.
The flyover was announced in July 2009 and was initiallyscheduled for completion by 2012. But the work on it actually started inSeptember 2013.
The project was scheduled to be completed within three yearswith September 2016 set as the deadline. However, the deadline was revised toMarch 2017 following the 2014 floods.