Road plan cleared, DUAC bypassed

NEW DELHI: In a development which comes as a major embarrassment for the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), the Public Works Department (PWD) claimed to have got the clearance for the Ring Road bypass project from the office of the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) on Tuesday. Bypassing the commission, which had objected to the alignment of the road and felling of trees for the project, the PWD had recently put the case before the L-G office.
Confirming the approval, chief engineer (Commonwealth Games, PWD) BB Bhatia said: "We put up our case before L-G office since we have to complete the project before the Commonwealth Games 2010.'' Sources said further delay would derail the project.
Senior PWD officials claimed that they have already awarded the project to successful bidder and work would start soon. The 5.5-km Salimgarh Fort-Velodrome Road project, estimated to cost Rs 654.39 crore, is aimed at easing traffic congestion around Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and providing direct connectivity between east Delhi and the stadium.
Meanwhile, a senior DUAC functionary said the PWD could have waited one more day since the commission had scheduled to hold a meeting on the project on Wednesday. Earlier in the day commission members had said they were waiting for PWD to come back to them after incorporating their suggestions in the project.
DUAC chairman KT Ravindran had said: "Our concern with the project is it should improve connectivity. The whole project is bypassing the Commonwealth Games site as two or three stadiums are proposed there. There is also the issue of 350 trees coming in way of the project and we have to try and salvage that.''
The Commission had also asked PWD to get clearance from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as the bypass project falls close to protected monument, Ferozeshah Kotla. "Another concern is pedestrian-free movement. The project is a comprehensive plan and we have to take into concern the impact it will have on the city,'' Ravindran had said.
However, PWD engineers said the DUAC had come out with an alternate design and if they had followed this, they would have failed to meet the ASI norms.