Noida: The UP State Bridge Corporation requested the Noida Authority to increase the original budget of Rs 468 crore for the Bhangel elevated road by Rs 150 crore. But the Noida Authority denied the proposal of SBC.
However, the Authority rejected the application, questioning why the project had missed its deadline. In reality, the Authority intends to meet with the state government to examine the project’s poor progress.
Ritu Maheshwari, the Authority CEO, said, “Yes, the bridge corporation’s demand to escalate the cost has been rejected. The agency has been told that whatever revision is there in the project cost, it has to be at its end. The agency handed the project through a bidding process, where the cost was clearly mentioned. So, the cost cannot be raised just like that.”
She added, “The demand they raised is not justifiable. We will inform the government about the slow pace of work. A decision needs to be taken in this regard.”
The elevated road, which was scheduled to open in June 2020, was expected to be completed by December of last year. Although the deadline has been extended to December 2023, the project is unlikely to be completed by then, with more than 30% of the work remaining.
Sandeep Chauhan, the district general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Mandal said, “There has been hardly any progress in the past six months. We have written numerous letters to the authorities concerned but to no avail. We have also organised meetings with the Noida Authority and requested the officials to construct the roads and set up dust control measures. But nothing has come out of them so far.”
Local merchants voiced dissatisfaction with the slow pace of development, claiming that the road’s construction and the dust it generated had harmed their operations.
In addition, the Authority will meet with the state government to request permission for an Rs 801 crore budget for the Chilla elevated road project.
