NEW DELHI, February 26: Delhi Transport Minister Parvez Hashmi today promised to lay foundation stones for 25 fly-overs in the city, one every week from next month onwards. He also promised that traffic signals would disappear from the Ring Road by the end of 2001.``Fifteen of these fly-overs will be constructed within 14 months and the rest will be completed in three years,'' Hashmi said.The fly-overs, it is estimated, will cost the government around Rs 500 crore. The breakup is: Rs 68 crore for the five-way fly-over at the AIIMS crossing, Rs 78 crore for a similar structure in Dhaula Kuan, Rs 90 crore for an ``engineering marvel'' in Punjabi Bagh and around Rs 25 crore for each of the remaining flyovers at places like the Moti Bagh crossing, Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place and Khel Gaon Marg. But a confident Hashmi said: ``Funds are not a problem. We don't even need to ask the Centre for help. For the first phase, we are borrowing Rs 110 crore from the DDA and we will contribute Rs 40 crore from our own resources''.Though Hashmi was silent on whether the location of the flyovers had been synchronised with the Mass Rapid Transit System project, he said the primary objective was to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. The minister did not forget the subways and underpasses, but not before taking a dig at the previous BJP government in the city. ``The subways which they constructed are not used by people, these have become dens for criminals. But we will not construct subways anywhere and everywhere,'' he said.
