What is behind the delay in completion of Delhi’s Barapullah phase 3? 2 acre land

What is not making their jobs any easier is the floods in July which have rendered the soil swampy causing difficulty in construction of pillars. “After the recent floods and other ongoing issues, we have started the work on the floodplains. But still, we need about 2 acres of land to construct the 690 metres of elevated portion. The work on the mid-section (above the river) is left and to join the pillars, we need that land. If the land acquisition is delayed, it will delay the work further,” said a senior PWD official.

Officials said that the 690 metres portion will bridge two stretches of 400 metres and 290 metres respectively. “This year in January, after intervention of the Lieutenant Governor (L-G), the department got the land. But, a few private owners are still not allowing (us to acquire it) and have filed court cases. The South East District revenue department is working on getting the remaining land parcels,” said an official.

Notably, the project had already been delayed by five years due to land acquisition issues and non-availability of required land parcels.

According to officials, land parcels are required in the Nangli Razapur Village to complete the Phase 3 of the project, which will pass over the Barapullah drain. “The acquisition work is being handled by the DM South East district,” said officials.

“We have to construct two giant walls and columns on this riverbend to support the bridge. We have received only 6 acres of land parcels, the remaining 2-2.5 will be required to bridge the gap,” said officials.

The ongoing work on this elevated section was delayed also due to the floods in July. Even though the floods have receded, the soil is swampy, said officials, adding that excess ground water gushing is posing a problem in constructing the supporting pillars.

“The construction agency has deployed a system to drain the ground water every 15 minutes which helps in preventing the base of pillars from getting flooded. As we dig deeper, water gushes out, so working on this river plain is also tough. If the water is not drained out in time, it hampers the construction work on the concrete pads,” said officials.

Officials said that the department has built circular concrete pads on top of which pillars will be erected to strengthen the flyover ramp.

“We have set a revised timeline of another year to complete the project. But if the acquisition of land is delayed, the project may take a few more months,” said officials.