The Delhi government’s An ambitious Signature Bridge project , is likely to be opened for the public by October 31
After missed several deadlines an ambitious Signature Bridge project of The Delhi government’s, is expected to be opened for the public by October 31. A bench of Honorable The Delhi High Court consisting of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice VK Rao, was informed that the long-delayed Signature Bridge across the river Yamuna would be completed by October.
The court was informed by the counsel for the Public Works Department (PWD) that the project will be completed by October 2018 and trial run will be conducted thereafter. Meanwhile, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, inspected the work on the much-awaited Signature Bridge and promised to pay weekly visits at the site to speed up its completion. Mr Sisodia also said that 98 per cent of the construction work has been completed and the rest is progressing at a fast pace. The government has released the final installment of Rs 200 crore to complete the project. The iconic bridge was earlier expected to be completed by June after missing several deadlines.
Construction of the bridge has been delayed, but once completed it will save travel time of millions of northeast Delhi residents and serve as a \”crown\” of Delhi tourism, he said.
Once completed, it will share the burden of vehicular traffic which is being borne by the Wazirabad bridge, which is the main access route between the North and northeast Delhiites and adjacent Ghaziabad areas like Trans Delhi Signature City, Sonia Vihar, Loni, UPAVP’s scheme Mandola Vihar etc. Areas such as Khajuri Khas and towards Ghaziabad and Sahibabad will benefit the most. The bridge will connect Delhi with many industrial areas of Uttar Pradesh, like the Tronica city in Ghaziabad.
According to the government, The bridge was first conceptualised in 2004 and received a final nod from the Delhi cabinet in 2007. It was supposed to be completed before the Commonwealth Games which was to be held in October 2010. But the bridge had obtained environmental clearance in 2011 and was set to be completed by December 2013. The date of completion has been shifted many time form December 2013 to June 2016, then to July 2017, further shifted to December 2017.The initial budget of the bridge was Rs 400 crore but so far Rs 1,518 crore have been spent on the project. It will be the country’s first asymmetrical bridge supported by the cables, which will be 675 m in long and 35.2 m wide. The pylon, which is 154 m in height has already been constructed.
The court was hearing a PIL by advocate Pratibha Chopra, who pointed to the inordinate delay in the project and alleged that the construction of the bridge had missed several deadlines since 2011.
