RENOVATION NDMC has set a fresh deadline of June 25, but structural issues need to be dealt with

April 12, 2013

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After missing several deadlines the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has now claimed that it will finish the entire renovation work by June 25.

Experts, however, have rubbished the deadline, saying it is not realistic as there are a number of structural issues that need to be dealt with first. Delhi chief secretary D M Spolia took stock of the ongoing work on Tuesday with the NDMC chairperson, Engineers India Limited officials and traders.

Officials told the chief secretary that as escalators for the subways will come in June from China, work will be completed only by that time.

“The matter was discussed and the civic agency was asked to set a deadline, which would be met. The civic agency and EIL has assured us that they will finish all the work, including the subways, by June 25. The service development work will be completed much before that,” said a senior Delhi government official.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had directed the chief secretary to visit the market to assess the amount of work that needs to be done as traders’ have suffered huge losses due to the work.

“The remaining work cannot be completed in three months. They have not even finished the structural work yet, how can they complete the entire market so soon? So many deadlines have been set and not met. This too seems like a tall order,” said an architect requesting anonymity.

The New Delhi Traders’ Association (NDTA) said that EIL seemed more confident about finishing the service development work and hoping to meet the deadline.

“Traders were present during the inspection. EIL officials promised to stick to the deadline. They have said they will start removing the construction and demolition waste so that pedestrians do not face any difficulty. We hope work will be finished soon,” said Atul Bhargava, president of NDTA.

The restoration work has been going on for the past four years. For the five existing subways that were being remodelled, the civic agency is yet to install ramps and escalators.

According to NDMC officials, the construction of the utility duct in the Middle Circle will require more time. Service lines such as those of telephone and electricity lines will go underground in this duct.