Indian Express 07.01.2010
Games deadline unrealistic, says MCD
While work is yet to begin on the planned makeover for the historic Jama Masjid precinct, the ambitious redevelopment project has already run aground. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has now admitted it will not be able to complete the redevelopment work in time for the Commonwealth Games this year.
Although MCD Commissioner K S Mehra maintains that the delay of over two years has been caused by a combination of factors like problems in getting the necessary clearances and “funding issues”, sources in the MCD said one of the main reasons for the delay is a paucity of funds.
Mehra had also recently written to Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna seeking Rs 20 crore as additional funds for the project. The Delhi government too had committed to fund one-third of the total project cost. It has, however, not released any funds yet.
“While there is not enough funding for the redevelopment work right now, efforts are being made to arrange for the same. Once the state government releases the money, we will work accordingly,” an MCD official said.
The civic body as well as planners in charge of the project, meanwhile, said the Jama Masjid project should not have been linked to the Games. “It was too ambitious on the part of the administration to have linked it to the Games. Jama Masjid redevelopment is a large-scale and very sensitive project. Even if we had the funds available on time, the Commonwealth Games deadline would still have been unrealistic,” the official added.
The Corporation has, however, decided to begin “preliminary work” on the project. According to the plan, the MCD will make site visits to the Jama Masjid precinct next week and begin work like “cleaning up the area and putting up boards that will depict what the area is going to look like after the makeover”.
The supplementary plan of redeveloping neighbouring areas like Subhash Marg have been submitted with the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Planning and Engineering Centre (UTIPEC) and is likely to be considered for approval next week.
The MCD has also finally managed to the two major stakeholders of the project — over 633 shopkeepers of Meena Bazaar and the shopkeepers of Dargah Sheikh Kallimullah — to arrive at a consensus. “It took us around 50 odd meetings with them to finally get a consensus on the redevelopment plan,” the MCD official said.
The MCD had, in May last year, managed an approval from the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) for the plan. Much of their original plan that boasted of an underground parking space and a heritage mall was, however, done away with as both the DUAC and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) insisted on minimum intervention in the sensitive zone to preserve its glory.
While the agency agreed to do away with underground parking, the proposed shopping complex in the basement around the mosque will now be at the same level as Meena Bazar.
The final plan will cost MCD Rs 150 crores.
Civic body behind schedule in most
Games-related work, says Opposition in MCD
Members of the opposition Congress in the MCD have alleged that the agency has failed to achieve the desired level of progress in work for the Commonwealth Games due to a lack of motivation and carelessness. During a special review meeting on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition J K Sharma alleged the MCD had failed to meet deadlines of most projects. Out of 16 projects for railway underbridges or overbridges, work has begun on only five, he added. “Only 50 percent of work related to covering Kushak and Sunehere Nallah has been done so far. Work on most automated parking lots across Delhi is yet to begin,” Sharma said. The members added that the MCD has also failed to perform in areas like sanitation, health and education. “Three sanitary landfill sites at Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla are filled beyond capacity. It has also failed to provide electricity, drinking water and toilets in schools.”
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