Central empowered body gives tree-cutting nod for Barapullah Phase 3 flyover

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) The connectivity between East and South Delhi is set to reduce with the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) granting tree-cutting permission required to complete the construction of Barapullah Phase 3 flyover, government officials said on Monday.

The project has been under construction since 2015 and has had several cost escalations and missed deadlines.

The officials said that more than 90 per cent of the work at the site has been completed and around 325 trees will need to be cut to complete the project.

The CEC is a five-member committee formulated by the Supreme Court of India to monitor afforestation and tree-cutting permissions.

Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Verma has visited the project site twice in the past four months.

"Our target is to complete the construction work by the end of this year; the work will be expedited now for this essential flyover project," Verma said.

The Barapullah Phase 3 project envisages providing seamless and signal-free connectivity between Mayur Vihar-I in East Delhi and AIIMS in South Delhi. The new flyover will merge with the existing Barapullah flyover at Sarai Kale Khan.

Earlier, the Delhi government had directed the PWD to prepare a fresh, comprehensive proposal for cabinet approval to accommodate cost overruns in the long-delayed project.

The project, sanctioned in 2015 and initially estimated at Rs 1,260.63 crore, has already used Rs 1,238.68 crore and is expected to exceed its original budget. A fresh approval will, therefore, be required, taking into account all the pending liabilities.

In the expenditure and finance committee (E&FC) meeting held on July 28, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta approved this proposal. PTI SSM SSM KSS KSS