Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has reviewed the progress of important projects being undertaken by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the city.
The projects worth over Rs 4,500 crore are slated to be completed between February-April this year and have the potential of positively altering the cityscape, the city’s skyline as well as giving impetus to inclusive in situ rehabilitation of slum dwellers in the national capital, the LG office said on Wednesday.
During the meeting convened by him on Tuesday, the LG along with all concerned senior officers of DDA went into details of the civil and electrical works, procurements and mandatory clearances required for the projects and fixed the timelines in accordance with the developments that have taken place so far.
Saxena expressed satisfaction over the status of installation of various artefacts that include a huge Nandi Statue at Yashobhoomi in Dwarka, life-size Elephant and Lion figurines and fountains in Dwarka and Baansera.
He expressed grave exception to the delay being caused in the development of Vaishnavi-the Nursery-cum-Garden-cum-Recreational Space in Ashok Vihar in North Delhi.
“Vaishnavi, which was conceived on the very second day of Saxena taking over as LG in a visit to the location, has been hanging in balance for the past more than one year with much work pending due to the non-performance of the contractor,” the LG office said.
The LG ordered for the contract to be revoked, EMD and bank guarantee of the contractor to be seized and the firm be blacklisted and asked officers to float a fresh tender.
It may be mentioned that Saxena has ever since taking over been monitoring all on-going projects on a weekly basis and visiting the sites to assess actual progress on ground.
The projects being implemented by the DDA included Jailorwala Bagh in situ rehabilitation project that will house 1,675 families living in neighbourhood slums is complete and will be handed over to the beneficiaries by the first week of March.
Among others, the ambitious Karkardooma ToD project has the potential of not only changing the skyline of east Delhi, but also bringing about unprecedented socio-economic changes in the area. The cost of the entire project is Rs 1,168.54 crore.