Residents cry foul over road-widening project

While the residents claim that the project,undertaken without consulting the Residents’ Welfare Associations,is causing inconvenience to the pedestrians; the MCD says the project is completely authorised and similar to streetscaping.

The list of residents to complain against the MCD move includes influential names like the Ambassador of Tunisia,Former captain of the Indian cricket team MAK Pataudi and Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi Tejendra Khanna,along with other prominent personalities.

In a written complaint filed with the Vasant Vihar police station,a group of residents have alleged that the Corporation has “no official authorisation for the project and the MCD officials at the site could not produce any written order or concept” to this effect.

Incidentally,the area is already experiencing traffic congestion due to the ongoing construction of PWD’s twin flyovers near the Outer Ring Road.

Many schools like the Modern School and Guru Harkisan Public School are also located in the area.

The residents claim “shortening the pavement area will only cause problems for pedestrians and that there is no point in extending the already 8-metre wide road.”

“The workers at the site have dug up the whole area and the pavements at the T-junction of Poorvi Marg-Vasant Marg stretch have been broken. Besides,the debris has been collected at the site itself,” said Sheila Mathrani,a resident of the area.

Residents say when the police intervened following the written complaint,the MCD executive engineer said the ongoing work was only “a sample project and would be presented before the L-G once complete”.

The MCD,meanwhile,claims that the project is authorised. “The existing pavements are four to six-metre wide and are used by the residents to park their vehicles. We are simply reducing that area to around 2 metres and widening the roads and also beautifying the new pavements,” an MCD official in-charge of the project said.

“It is the Corporation’s land and hence,no prior permission from any other agency is required,” he added.

According to MCD spokesperson Deep Mathur,the work is a part of the MCD’s many road-widening projects currently on in the city. “These are old pavements that are very wide and since,we require more area to accommodate the increasing vehicular traffic in the Capital,we are shortening the pavements.”

“Also,though the area in question is a green area,no environment clearance is required till we need to cut down any trees,” Mathur added.

For now,however,the work has been stopped. “We have stopped the ongoing work and are consulting our senior officials. We will soon resolve the matter and then decide the future course of action,” an MCD official said.