Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 12: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had set 3 year deadline for the Asian Development Bank funded flyover project from Jahangir Chowk to Rambagh in Srinagar to decongest Srinagar city but the project is still in tendering stage.
The project was approved by the ADB in October 2009 but the work on the flyover is yet to start. The tenders for Rs 352 crore project are yet to be evaluated by Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) that oversee the project.
So far only rehabilitation process of the displaced shopkeepers has started. The agency has constructed two shopping complexes – one each at Rambagh and Jahangir Chowk-to accommodate the displaced shopkeepers. The cost of rehabilitation process, that is nearly Rs 100 crore, will be borne by the State Government.
“The main impediment in starting the work is the delay of approving tenders of the construction agencies. The time taken by ERA to evaluate the aspiring agencies is enormous which is proving to be the biggest impediment in starting the work on the project,” sources said.
With the three-year deadline set by the CM already passed, ERA plans to start the work from January 2013, but the non-completion of rehabilitation process, a pre-requisite before starting the work is a major stumbling block.
Sources said that ADB, which is also monitoring the rehabilitation of shopkeepers, has asked the State Government not to start construction work on flyover until all the displaced shopkeepers are rehabilitated.
“I fail to understand how the ERA officials are claiming to start construction work in January 2013, when they have not even constructed the complexes at Rambagh for the rehabilitation of displaced shopkeepers,” says a displaced shopkeeper.
Now another deadline of December 2013 has been set for the completion of this project which was supposed to be completed by 2012.
Khalid Muzzaffar, Incharge Director Central ERA said that once the rehabilitation process is over, the work on the project will start.
Muzzaffar blamed time consuming evaluation of tendering process for missing the deadline.
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