×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Delhi govt presses panic button, holds high-level meetings

Last Updated 28 July 2009, 10:51 IST
ADVERTISEMENT

Though they are not openly stating it, officials secretly maintain the works are way behind the schedule deadline of October next year.
The city government has already drawn flak from different quarters for delays in implementation of the projects with most of them running behind schedule.

As many as 120 infrastructure projects, put under the constant monitoring to ensure there completion before the prestigious event, are lagging behind, officials, on the condition of anonymity, said.

Realising that key projects are running late, Dikshit has asked her cabinet colleagues and top officials, including Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta to oversee the projects.

She had also pulled up various implementing agencies like Delhi Jal Board, MCD, PWD and Transport department for the delays.
The progress in most of the projects is not very "satisfactory", the officials said.
Although Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Mike Fennell, who met Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit last week, officially told reporters that he was satisfied with the progress, insiders say he had expressed his concern over power and water situation in the city.
He had also asked the Chief Minister to take appropriate steps to ensure improvement in these areas.

The PWD, which maintains most of Delhi's arterial roads, had undertaken 20 projects, including flyovers and underpasses, to upgrade the transport system before the Games but most of these projects are likely to miss the deadline.
The Government had said the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will have a fleet of around 5,000 modern buses during the prestigious Commonwealth Games.
The delivery of these buses was supposed to start in March but the manufacturers- Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors- have sought more time, saying they have limited capacity in their plants.
In 2005, the city government had conceived introduction of electric trolley buses, high capacity buses (HCBs) and a light rail transit (LRT) system in Delhi ahead of the Games but nothing has happened on these projects.
With the tourism ministry maintaining that the city will require 30,000 rooms in addition to existing 10,000 rooms in Delhi, the city will witness shortage in that area also.
Although some hotels are coming up in DDA land and NCR zone, it is not expected to meet the requirements. The Delhi Government's bed and breakfast scheme allowing accommodation in private residences has also met with a lukewarm response.
The Delhi Government had proposed to build two more Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors -- Karawal Nagar to Commonwealth Games (CWG) village and from Moolchand Hospital to Jahangir Puri area before the Games. But no visible work has started on these two stretches.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 28 July 2009, 10:51 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT