Going round in circles

The project — named ‘CP Redevelopment Plan’ — deadline has been revised several times since 2010. The renovation was to have been completed before October 2010,when the city hosted the Commonwealth Games (CWG). The makeover was part of plans to beautify the city preparing to welcome thousands of visitors from all over the world for the sporting spectacle. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC),which was supervising the renovation then and even now,missed the deadline. CP looked like a huge construction site or an open mine during the Commonwealth Games. The giant machinery too couldn’t be shifted out of the place before the event’s inauguration and had to be blocked out of the view of passing motorists with huge CWG promotion posters.

Head hung in shame,the government pushed the deadline to 2011,further pushed to March 2012 and then to December 2012. This year,NDMC’s former Chairperson Archana Arora promised the work will be over by March. Then,separate deadlines were set for various tasks after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Chief Secretary P K Tripathi’s visit to Connaught Place on April 9 this year. These deadlines too have lapsed as work progresses at a snail’s pace. The new NDMC Chairperson,without setting an official deadline,is holding regular meetings and claims the work will be completed by September.

BAD START

Outsourced to the government-owned Engineers India Ltd (EIL),execution of work has faced many difficulties. As the newly appointed NDMC Chairperson Jalaj Srivastava puts it,“Lack of coordination between the local body and the agency to which the project has been outsourced has led to delays.”

When work started on the project,officials thought the underground cables had to be relaid to ensure various government departments in future do not dig up the roads now and then,causing inconvenience to shoppers and shopkeepers. The focus shifted from facade restoration to relaying of the cables. CP was dug up without much thought given to whether the authorities had bitten off more than they could chew. Footfalls dropped. Traders complained. Arora too admitted several tasks being carried out under the renovation programme were not part of the original project. “We started with facade restoration when the budget was in double-digits. Then,new tasks continued to be added to the original plan,leading to delays,” she said.

EIL

Countering the allegations of the NDMC,an EIL official said inefficiency on NDMC’s part in securing various approvals on time had delayed the renovation project. “First,NDMC was supposed to fast-track approvals for various works. The traffic police and other agencies delayed clearances. Second,we faced opposition from stakeholders like property owners and traders. They had not been briefed about the plan for CP,resulting in delays. Third,the NDMC had no maps of its utilitiy cables and pipelines,” the official said.

TUNNEL FOR CABLES

Much delay and criticism later,EIL has finally completed the task of relaying all the underground cables at one place,a step that will ensure that the roads inside CP are not dug up in future by various civic agencies for repairing or relaying cables. All the underground cables have been bunched together inside a 1.25km-long circular tunnel constructed below the Middle Circle. Considered a first in the country at providing a common duct for utility cables of various agencies to prevent digging of roads,EIL faced a lot of difficulties constructing the tunnel. The NDMC did not have maps of the utility lines and the agency faced opposition from traders. The sewerage and drainage pipelines have been kept outside the tunnel.

COST ESCALATION

The renovation project was conceived in April 2004 but final approval from the Delhi Urban Art Commission came in November 2008. The work was to have been completed in two years at a cost of Rs 76 crore. After five years and a nine-fold increase in the project cost to Rs 671 crore,work is still continuing. CAG too drew attention to the spiralling cost in its report in 2010. But despite the cost escalation,the NDMC refused to levy any penalty on EIL. In 2012,the council cancelled four proposed subways,a plan for centralised air-conditioning and a few more elements. The cost was cut to Rs 477 crore in June 2012,which has since escalated to Rs 671 crore.

CCTVs

Forget the complex engineering tasks. CP will be secured by a constellation of CCTV cameras,as part of the redevelopment plan. But even work on this is running behind schedule. “We are in talks with the Delhi Police as they have to play a crucial role in implementing the plan along with EIL,” an official said. Former NDMC Chairperson Archana Arora blamed EIL for the delay. She said it was EIL which had to put up the cameras. “It was the task of EIL to install the cameras. We will monitor the feed from some cameras with the Delhi Police monitoring most of the cameras,” she said.

PARKING

To ease the pressure of parking in CP,NDMC,partnering with DLF,has constructed an automated parking lot on Baba Kharag Singh Marg. But with no enforcement,illegal parking on roadsides is still preferred by visitors to CP. “It requires a paradigm shift in habits to make the automated parking lot successful. The NDMC could have been more strict in asking people to park at the designated spot. The government should help us make the parking lot successful by curbing illegal parking near the multi-level parking lot and educating motorists,” Benu Sehgal,the project head of DLF’s automated parking lot,said.

“NDMC scrapped surface parking on Baba Kharag Singh Marg two months ago,making it compulsory for motorists to park at the multi-level automated parking lot. But people continue to park their cars on roadsides. The traffic police need to crack down on the violators,” an NDMC official said.

Parking on Inner Circle has been allowed again after several months.

EYESORES

* Broken or missing marble tiles at various places in Outer Circle

* Garbage bins in dimly-lit corners. The newly installed bins are always overflowing

* Cables running in and out of the ground,tripping pedestrians

* Betel stains on the newly painted columns and corners Uncovered manholes,which are being used as garbage bins by people

* Portions of the base of the grand white pillars are missing at many places

* Escalators in many places do not work. In some corridors,lighting don’t work

* At a place near H block,granite tiles put just a month ago have cracked

* People urinate on the walls despite the presence of several public toilets

FUTURE PLANn

*Redesigned petrol pumps

The NDMC,on a suggestion from DUAC,plans to hold an open architectural design competition to finalise a new design for the pre-Independence era petrol pumps in Connaught Place

*Subways

For all those who have stopped using subways to avoid beggars and drug-addicts squatting inside them and,instead,cross roads through moving traffic in Connaught Place,the NDMC wants to win them back by outsourcing the subways to high-end coffee shops.

*Food plaza

The NDMC is planning to open a food plaza in the middle of CP. The plaza will come up at the spot now occupied by the temporary office of Engineers India Ltd

MISSED DEADLINES

2010 | 2011 | March 2012 | Dec. 2012

*work Deadlines missed this year

May 15

*surface development

May 15

*work on existing subways

June 30

*work on two new subways

Interview Jalaj Srivastava,Chairperson,NDMC

‘I have asked all officers to go to CP before they report to work’

What,according to you,is the reason for the delay in the completion of the project?

I believe it is lack of coordination between the local body and Engineers India Ltd (EIL) that has led to the delay. During my visits to CP,officials from both parties gave me different deadlines to finish various works and,when meetings were held,the time to finish the same task came down.

How are you ensuring that the project will not be delayed any further?

I have directed all senior officers to take a detour while coming to office and visit CP to inspect the work under progress. CP is next to our office and it does not hurt if we take a detour and then come to office. I convene meetings every week with officials of the NDMC and EIL to monitor the pace of work. The Chief Minister has given more time than they demanded and yet the project is causing inconvenience to the public. I have given them a deadline to complete the task and,after that,not one extra day will be given. The work will be completed within September.

Have you noticed any anomalies in the execution of the project?

I have asked for a presentation. I have noticed the definition of facade restoration is different from contractor to contractor. There are areas where the part which is considered by one contractor as facade has been left out of his definition by another contractor. I have to streamline every detail of the project.