NOIDA: The Noida Authority is trying to restart work on the 5.3 km Chilla Elevated Road, construction for which was suspended last year, by injecting funds from the PM Gati Shakti Scheme. The project, launched in 2019, is already delayed by three years due to a shortage of funds. As a repercussion, the bypass – proposed to ease traffic between east Delhi and the NCR city through an alternative road that originates at the Chilla border in Mayur Vihar – will now cost Rs 1,076 crore. The initial estimate of Rs 605 crore was supposed to be borne 50:50 by the Noida Authority and the state government’s public works department. But so far, only Rs 73 crore has been spent on the project, officials said, adding the Noida Authority could acquire funds – about 50% of the revised project cost – from the central government scheme as a “loan”. “We held a meeting on this recently. In this scheme, the Centre will release funds, but we need to return them after some time. This is like a loan,” a senior Noida Authority official told TOI. Introduced last year, the Gati Shakti Master Plan aims to facilitate infrastructure for seamless connectivity. The proposal for the revised cost will be made and sent, the official quoted above said, adding: “They will discuss and then decide how much loan can be sanctioned.” But it will still take a few months for the formalities, so the best hope is that the project will revive late this year. The six-lane road was conceived as a direct link from Mayur Vihar in Delhi to the Noida Expressway near Mahamaya flyover. By crossing sectors 14A, 14, 15A, 16 and 18, it will help decongest Dadri road. The route will be accented with five loops that will allow commuters to exit at different sectors. Work on the route began in January 2019, with an original deadline of 2021, but construction was halted in March 2020 as the pandemic hit. It restarted a year and a half later, in October 2021, but was discontinued again over the funds. Noida Authority officials had earlier said they had brought up the topic with the state government. The Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd, responsible for the construction, has revised the estimated cost of the project to Rs 1,076 crore. Authority officials said this was because of the delay and also a change in the construction design to accommodate a CNG pipeline that falls on the road alignment.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/stalled-since-2021-noida-looks-to-revive-chilla-elevated-road/articleshow/93626710.cms
