Delhi L-G gives nod for land acquisition for Barapullah corridor

NEW DELHI: Delhi L-G V. K Saxena on Saturday gave nod for acquisition of two small parcels of land that will remove the final hurdle in completion of the critical Barapullah Corridor Phase-III project in the national capital, Raj Bhavan said.

The officials said that the L-G has asked the Chief Secretary to inquire into the “erred planning” and “assessment of land requirement” that essentially led to delaying of the project by six years and cost escalation by a whopping Rs 362 crore.

The L-G also directed for suspension of the engineers in-charge of the project right from the time of start of construction works on the project, if yet serving, and initiating suitable action against those who have retired, the official said.

The two land parcels measuring 1169.093 sqm and 709.901 sqm respectively are located in village Nangli Razapur, in South East District.

The Raj Bhavan officials, the project was held up due to non-acquisition of these land parcels all these years. The official said that while invoking the AAP government's oft-repeated claims that it was saving huge amount of public money by executing PWD projects before time and below the tendered amount,

The L-G noted that contrary to the claims made by even the Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal), the government will end up paying Rs 1,326.37 crore for the Barapullah Project Against the tender amount of Rs 964.00 crore.

“This amounts to an additional Rs 362.37 crore being paid to the contractor out of the government exchequer, while also delaying the project by over six years,” the official said.

The official said that Saxena has noted that there was “sheer negligence” on the part of the officers in respect of planning, inspection and field survey of land for the project resulting in delays of more than 06 years, apart from cost overruns running into hundreds of crore.

The L-G has also directed the Chief Secretary to prepare suitable SoP for lapse-free planning and timely execution of the projects of public importance including identification of land and assessing requisite area for acquisition of land, the official added.