Signature Bridge project: Govt sets January 2015 as deadline

The chief secretary of Delhi, DM Spolia on Saturday directed the managing director the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) to penalise the contractor for missing the deadline. He also set a new deadline for Delhi government’s flagship project.

‘The chief secretary has directed that the project must be completed before January 2015. He also directed the managing director of DTTDC to penalise the contractor for the delay,’ said a spokesperson of Delhi government. The decision was taken at  a high-level meeting of secretaries of various departments of Delhi government on Saturday. 

The ambitious Signature Bridge project was approved by the government in 2000 in order to ease traffic on the parallel Wazirabad Bridge in north Delhi. It has missed several deadlines which has escalated it’s cost from original Rs 459 crore in 2006 to Rs 1,131 crore now. 

According to a report of DTTDC, over Rs 800 crore has been spent on the construction of 675-metre long Signature Bridge at Wazirabad. 

The project was initially to be completed before 2010 Commonwealth Games. The DTTDC has also faced the ire of Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung for missing several deadlines. 

Meanwhile, during the meeting, the chief secretary also reviewed all the major infrastructure and development works being carried out in the city and instructed the heads of respective departments to expedite the work.

Spolia directed Delhi Transport Corporation to submit a report regarding procurement of new buses, installation of GPS in buses and re-location of Millennium Bus Depot. He also asked the DTC officials to prepare a ‘concrete’ action plan to maintain cleanliness in DTC buses. 

He also directed the secretary of urban development department to submit a report within two weeks on the allotment of EWS flats to poor. 

Sapolia also asked for status report from the education department regarding construction of 96 schools in the city.