The Hindu : New Delhi News : Budget silent on new projects

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 01, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Budget silent on new projects

By Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI, MARCH 31. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) that serves the VVIP Lutyens' Delhi housing the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, the North and South Blocks and the Prime Minister's Office has not been successful in completing important projects or even implementing important budget proposals.

So when the NDMC Chairperson, Sindhushree Khullar, presented the civic body's annual budget today, she decided not to announce any major civil project and keep her proposals limited to routine works including beautification of the New Delhi area and strengthening of roads and sewer network, augmentation of water and power network and improvement of public utilities.

And when Ms. Khullar was asked about the pending projects including three multi-level parking lots, modern flower market, the New Delhi City Centre Phase II, working women's hostel and plans to make the NDMC area a slum-free zone, she just give assurances that all pending projects would be completed before the start of the Commonwealth Games 2010.

How serious is the NDMC about its projects announced in annual budget over the years can be gauged from the very fact that it not only scrapped at least two ambitious projects but also changed some projects after they were passed. The NDMC does not even care for the court orders as even after the Supreme Court's directions to improve the parking facilities in the Capital, the NDMC is still to commence work on three multi-level parking projects that were passed at least two years ago. It has even failed to improve the condition of its spacious Palika Parking at Connaught Place.

The list of NDMC's pending projects is getting longer and longer every year. An example of this is the upcoming City Centre Phase II adjacent to the civic body's headquarters -- Palika Kendra -- that has been delayed by more than five years now and still shows no signs of getting completed in the near future. Though Ms. Khullar today claimed that the building would be ready in next 18 months.

Similarly, the fate of two other ambitious projects seems to be in dark. While the modern flower market-cum-multi-level parking on Aurobindo Marg next to INA Market will have to wait for some more years as it has to be integrated with the upcoming Metro Rail project in the area. The possibility is also that the proposed flower market will have to make way for some other "commercially viable" project while the working women hostel project at Laxmibai Nagar has been converted into a housing project for NDMC employees.

Interestingly, the foundation stones of these projects were laid way back in 2001 and the civic body's head had assured that it would be completed soon. But more than three years have passed since then but nothing had been done so far.

Then the Council in its earlier budgets had promised to make Pillanji village in Sarojini Nagar area as the "model urbanised village". Even the former Lieutenant Governor, Vijai Kapoor, has at several public meetings announced that an elaborate project was being prepared to make Pillanji a major tourist attraction. But this project too is still confined to the official files. Moreover, the NDMC has been unable to remove slums from its own lands while there is no progress for removal of at least 43 slum clusters in the entire New Delhi area.

The NDMC had also announced three major parking on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Sarojini Nagar. But still NDMC has to start work on a single project, this despite the Supreme Court's direction to give priority to parking problem. Interestingly, the NDMC Chairperson feels that parking projects should be commercially viable and should not put extra financial burden on the civic body. "We have asked the Land And Development Office to give permission to make the KG Marg project commercially viable," she said, but failed to commit any deadline when these parking projects would be completed.

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