Phase III of the much-anticipated Barapullah flyover is likely to miss yet another deadline. The flyover, which is expected to reduce travel time for commuters between east and south-east Delhi — eventually easing vehicular congestion across the Capital — may get delayed beyond September-end.
Ongoing work on the 10-km-long flyover being constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD) at a cost initially pegged at ₹964 crore between Mayur Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan has been under way over the last five years.
It was “considerably slowed down” due to a series of lockdowns to contain the COVID-19 pandemic on the one hand and due to a land acquisition issue on the other, according to government sources. Meanwhile, the cost of construction soared by over₹324 crore till the end of June.
“Construction was completely suspended as per Central government guidelines when the lockdown was imposed; after norms in this respect were eased and the go-ahead to resume construction was given there were some issues with the availability of labour,” a source said.
“While construction has resumed and is on in full-swing, a dispute related to around 10 acres of land on the Yamuna floodplain still remains unresolved. This land is a very crucial part of the flyover as it is required for the construction of pillars and further connecting both sides over a distance of 3.5 kilometres,” another source said.
According to sources, the project, which was initially supposed to be completed by October, 2017, was “highly likely” to miss its modified deadline of September 30, 2020. This, even as its initial cost of ₹964 crore has risen to ₹1288.93 crore as there is lack of certainty about the acquisition of floodplain land required for the construction of one-third of the project and support its “extradosed” part.
The only respite for the project had been in early 2019 when an 800-metre flyover, another crucial component of the project providing signal-free passage from near the vicinity of Mayur Vihar extension to the Akshardham metro station was thrown open and has reduced travel time between both points to between 15 to 20 minutes.