Delhi's Pragati Maidan Tunnel needs 'major revamp' due to seepage, design flaws
Pragati Maidan Tunnel
The ₹777 crore ($93.6 million) Pragati Maidan Tunnel has been rendered beyond repair because of negligence, claimreports in the media. As senior official of the Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) while speaking toThe Hindu saidthe delay in its completion, paired with negligence inmaintenance, means that the tunnel now needs a "major revamp".
Pragati Maidan Tunnel
The tunnel was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as recently as June 2022, butnot even two years in, the tunnel is not safe to commute.
"The tunnel at present is not safe for commuters. The condition is such that it cannot be repaired without a major revamp," the PWD official told the publication.
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The 1.3 km long tunnel and the five underpasses linking it are part of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project that aims to ease connectivity between central Delhi and Noida and Ghaziabad.
As per the report,the tunnel witnessed multiple closures due to waterlogging during floods last year. While another official said that the tunnel floods whenever the city receives moderate intensityrainfall.
"While all underground tunnels develop minor leakages, this particular tunnel was not repaired by the maintaining authoritydespite multiple communications to the company in the past two months," he said.
Show cause notice
The Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) has reportedlyissued the project contractor Larsen and Turbo (L&T) a show cause notice. In it, the authorities said that the company failed to complete the construction on time. They said that the project was expected to be completed by 2019, but was only inaugurated in 2022.
Asking L&T to deposit a "minimum token amount of ₹500 crore," PWD also instructed the company to initiate repair work besides rectifying its defective design.
Furthermore, it warned that the companywas liable under civil as well as criminal laws for evading responsibility of repairing and maintaining a construction that was agreed upon to have a design life of 100 years or more.
As per the report citing an L&T spokesperson, the company has filed "a counter-claim of ₹500 crore" against the PWD.
(With inputs from agencies)
