Rani Jhansi grade separator, the ambitious flyover project in north Delhi, after missing several deadlines was thrown open to public on Tuesday by Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
The 1.6-km-long flyover, connecting St Stephen’s Hospital to Filmistan Cinema, was originally scheduled to be completed by 2010.
Speaking at the inauguration, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that despite missing multiple deadlines since laying of its foundation stone nearly a decade ago, the Union Government ensured that funding should not come in the way of completion of the much-needed flyover.
“Nearly 43 per cent of the construction work was done in last one year and though we faced a lot of challenges in the construction of this separator, we kept working on the project and finally it is ready for citizens. Not only it will benefit nearly five lakh commuters daily but a free flow of traffic would help in reducing pollution and save fuel as well”, added Dr. Vardhan.
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, who was also present at the inauguration, said that when finances became a bottleneck in completion of the project, the ministry decided that 80 per cent of the funds would be arranged through Urban Development Fund(UDF) and 20 per cent of the fund would have to be borne by Delhi Development Authority (DDA).”
He added, “the Union Government is aggressively spearheading a series of pending projects in Delhi and all such projects will be completed by March 2019.”