• Delhi budget: Infrastructure allocation 20 per cent less than last year’s

    In the past two years, the government’s focus has shifted away from roads and bridges to schools and hospitals. This is clear from this year’s allocation to Public Works Department, which is about 20% less than the amount earmarked in last year’s budget.
    Sources claim this fund is sufficient for ongoing projects, especially since last year’s allocation had to be revised midway after several projects were not accorded clearance. “We have been given what we had asked for. PWD barely took up any new project last year or received clearance for future projects. However, in the anticipation that we may see some projects taking off later this year, we hope to submit revised budget estimates later in the year,” said a senior official.
    Of the Rs 2,450 crore set aside for infrastructure development, Rs 823 crore has been allocated for roads and bridges. It will be pertinent to point out that PWD has to carry out large-scale repair and redevelopment of roads in the city as the condition of many is utterly abject.
    The city is likely to see a couple of major infrastructure projects take off finally this year, which include the construction of an underpass at the highly-congested Ashram intersection. This will allow signal-free movement for traffic moving from the Sabz Burz rotary towards Badarpur border. The other project, cleared recently, is a skywalk at ITO, connecting the Pragati Maidan Metro station with the Tilak Marg railway station and various other points at the busy intersection. The construction of a new flyover or underpass, as may be decided later, connecting Mahipalpur with the IGI Airport will also start shortly.
    The government has separately allocated Rs 150 crore for the completion of Barapullah phase-III, a bridge which will connect Mayur Vihar with Sarai Kale Khan and onward to INA. Kevin Hayes Jersey

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