look news india
New Delhi: The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the construction of the Barapula Elevated Road Phase-III project and the payment of ₹ 175 crore made to the contractor. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta issued these instructions at the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) meeting, in which he expressed concern over the alleged neglect of the Public Works Department (PWD) and the long -running delay in the project.
The Chief Minister alleged that the project could not be completed on time due to the alleged ‘corruption and negligence’ of the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. He says that the project, which was originally completed in October 2017, was averted repeatedly and eventually went into arbitration.
The root cause of dispute:
The dispute increased when the Delhi High Court ordered PWD to pay ₹ 175 crore including interest and GST in May 2023. The government says that this payment had to be made because the previous government had prevented the company from working. Chief Minister Gupta also alleged that the contractor had initially proposed to settle the case for ₹ 35 crore, but the previous government ignored the proposal, which reached the court and increased the amount.
What did government officials say:
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said, “This is another example of corruption and negligence under the previous AAP government.” He accused the previous government of filing a review petition nor taking action against the responsible officials. The government will also investigate whether the PWD officials had any involvement in it.
Current Status of Project:
Initially, this project started in 2015 with a 30-month time-limit and an estimated cost of ₹ 1,260.63 crore. However, the total cost of the project is estimated to increase to ₹ 1,330 crore. The Delhi government has allocated ₹ 150 crore for the financial year 2025-26, out of which ₹ 86.43 crore has been spent by June 2025. The Chief Minister also assured that after getting permission to remove the upcoming trees, the construction work will gain momentum and it will be completed on time.
Currently, the Anti-Culture Branch (ACB) will investigate the matter as to what kind of irregularities were taken in the payment and what role the authorities played.
