Times of India: New Delhi: Saturday, September 16, 2017.
For three
years after its foundation was laid, the railway underpass at Prem Nagar in
north Delhi has remained a distant dream. In the meantime, the railway crossing
there continues to take a toll of lives. The response to an RTI query showed
that in the past seven years, 436 people have lost their lives, while 78 have
been injured while crossing the railway line.
Conceptualised
in 2014, the underpass was meant to enable people to cross the railway track
safely while decongesting the area. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation was
to have taken up the project. But with no money to spare, it passed the onus to
the urban development department of Delhi government.
"People
are losing their lives while crossing the railway line," complained
Hashish Kumar, a Prem Nagar resident. He explained that people crossed the
railway tracks because taking the road to reach the nearest metro station or
bus stop would mean a detour of at least half an hour.
A senior
north civic body official claimed, "The corporation initially submitted Rs
40 lakh for planning and survey charges in 2015. However, due to financial
problems we could not take up the project and requested Delhi government to
provide financial aid. However, no funds have been sanctioned till now."
A letter
dated November 4, 2016, written by the engineer-in-chief of the north
corporation to principal secretary of the urban development department, said,
"There is a constant demand from the residents of the area to construct
railway under bridge (RUB)because they often face difficulty crossing the
railway line to reach Rama Road. This is dangerous to human safety also."
The letter
said land falling in the alignment of the RUB would need to be acquired, so the
cost of the project would be Rs 128 crore plus Rs 58 crore for land
acquisition.
The urban
development department wrote to PWD, directing it to undertake the project as
per directions. However, senior PWD officials maintained that the public works
agency could not allocate funds to a municipal corporation.
"The
funds for RUBs and ROBs come from the central government. Under one scheme, the
central government bears 80% of the project cost, with the rest allocated by
the agency involved. We were intimated about the project by Delhi government,
but allocation of funds can only be done by the government," a senior PWD
official pointed out.
An official
from Delhi government, however, said that he was unaware of the specific
project, but added that as a matter of principle, the urban development
department was not involved with land acquisition. He also said there was no
compulsion on the department to pay for some other agency's project.
.JPG)
.JPG)
