Traffic jam at Dhaula Kuan during monsoon rains, in New Delhi.
Highlights
- Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena directed all agencies concerned to congest national capital
- He has also asked the Delhi chief secretary to sort out all pending inter-departmental issues
- L-G instructed officials to ensure timelines are met and responsibility is fixed in case of delay
Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has directed all agencies concerned, including PWD and DDA, to finish every pending task to decongest 77 corridors and improve traffic flow within three months, official sources said on Tuesday.
He has also asked the Delhi chief secretary to sort out all pending inter-departmental issues and fix a timeline for the completion of each task at hand.
The L-G instructed officials to ensure the timelines are met and responsibility is fixed in case of delay, said sources present at a meeting chaired by Saxena on Monday.
Expressing displeasure over year-long delays in removing religious structures, shanties and trees, Saxena directed officials to ensure total inter-departmental coordination and do away with "unjustified" use of court orders as "excuses" for non-performance, they said.
Officials of various departments, including PWD, forest, home, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and Delhi Development Authority were present at the meeting.
According to sources, of the pending 119 tasks, as many as 58 were required to be acted upon by the PWD.
Removal of trees at eight places, shanties at seven places and religious structures at 17 places, replacement of power transformers and poles, and five tasks related to non-availability of adequate parking outside banquet halls were delaying decongestion of important stretches, they said.
These stretches include the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Ring Road (Vijay Nagar to Burari Chowk), and Loni Road (from Shahdara GT Road to Loni Border.
The LG told the officials that he would personally monitor the decongestion exercise and any deviation from the directions will be taken very seriously, sources said.
About the 'Religious Places Committee' that decides upon removing religious structures, it was decided that a meeting of the panel will be held on every last working day of the month and all pending cases will be decided, they said.
Sources further said that in the matter of parking at sites of banquet halls, it was decided that DDA will handover identified lands to MCD on institutional rates that will involve the association of banquet halls and get them to construct multi-level parking at their own cost in lieu of the land provided for the purpose.
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