A little over a fortnight before it is scheduled to be showcased on a State tableau during the Republic Day celebrations, work related to the Chandni Chowk Redevelopment Project on a 1.3-km stretch between Red Fort and Fatehpuri Mosque is visibly far from being completed, The Hindu found during a visit on Friday.
Consecutive junctions along the entire length of the corridor — sought to be pedestrianised and kept out of bounds for motorised traffic for most part of the day — are disconnected from the main road which continues to be used by two-wheelers, the dusty central verge has been occupied by the homeless and lights are yet to be installed on a significant portion of the boulevard.
Underground work related to water and sewage pipelines was under way at the very beginning of the stretch adjacent to the Shri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir on Netaji Subhash Marg; on the opposite side of the street, the façade of the Bhagirath Place market was still being worked upon among a teeming rush of shoppers.
In August last year, The Hindu had reported on the progress of the initiative which has its roots in a cultural event organised in 1998 and at least a dozen government agencies engaged in one way or the other with it. Though there has been some visible progress since, the project is far from completion.
Delay due to pandemic
Initially scheduled to be completed till March, 2020, the project, like most others, encountered delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was then supposed to be completed by the end of December, 2020.
The 1.3-km stretch between Red Fort and Fatehpuri Masjid is to be turned into a vehicle-free zone between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., allowing only non-motorised vehicles, have tree-lined footpaths on either side of the road as well as a wide central verge and seating space for visitors.
Most of the work is being done in red sandstone keeping the Mughal-era architectural style in mind; LED streetlighting is also a part of the plan according to which all overhead wires have been taken underground and sewer lines have been rehabilitated.
While most of the work was only visible till Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib till the end of August last year, red sandstone has reached much farther towards the Fatehpuri Mosque side by now — but not without the odd power transformer yet to be shifted, or gaps in the stone to be filled after the removal of electricity wires or the shutting of an underground drain.
Access points to most areas abutting the stretch such as Nai Sarak have heavy construction equipment parked on top of layers of rubble, mud and garbage.
Some part of the road is cordoned off due to the ongoing work shifting the entire flow of pedestrian, and usually two-wheeler, traffic completely onto the opposite carriageway.
“The issue is not only creation but also maintenance of the infrastructure being created at a significant cost. In Chandni Chowk, we are now facing serious issues of post-maintenance; the homeless have taken over the redeveloped areas after the lockdown. I have made several requests to the government as well as Delhi Police but nothing has been done,” Sanjay Bhargava, president, Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal, complained.
Revised estimates
The improvement of arterial roads and inner streets, a government official said citing a meeting presided over by Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Satyendar Jain in his capacity as chairman of the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC) on December 29, will be taken up after the PWD submits revised estimates.
In addition to this, the official said, the façade restoration of buildings in the vicinity, a majority of which are heritage structures, is part of phase 2 of the project which is being done simultaneously with the ongoing work.
Delhi’s Republic Day tableau — showcasing the Chandni Chowk project — has been accorded approval by the Ministry of Defence, marking the Capital’s return to the festivities on Rajpath after three years.
It will not only be the only other “live” tableau apart from the Ram Temple-themed Uttar Pradesh float, but also, featuring mini contingents of four cyclists each riding along on either side of it in a symbolic bid to promote it as a means of commuting in a megacity, possibly have bicycles on Rajpath as part of a State float for the first time.