9 Deadlines Missed, Delhi's Barapullah Phase III To Open On September 29

After missing nine deadlines over nine years, Delhi's Barapullah Phase III has got another inauguration date -September 29. PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said on Saturday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the long-delayed corridor in the presence of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

"For more than a decade, Delhi has been waiting for this project to become a reality. The long-pending work has now been completed and the corridor is ready to be opened for the people of Delhi," Verma said after inspecting the project site.

June 30 Deadline Was Missed Too

The September 29 announcement comes less than three months after another deadline for the project was missed. Verma had earlier said the corridor would be ready for inauguration by June 30 this year. The deadline passed with work still pending.

The project was approved in 2014 and construction began in 2015. It was originally scheduled to be completed in 2017, but a series of hurdles pushed the timeline back repeatedly.

Once opened, the 3.5-km Barapullah Phase III corridor will connect Mayur Vihar Phase I in East Delhi with Sarai Kale Khan.

It will join the existing Barapullah corridor at Sarai Kale Khan, providing a largely signal-free link towards AIIMS and other parts of South Delhi. The combined corridor will stretch for around 9 km.

Why The Project Kept Getting Delayed

The project has faced delays over land acquisition, tree-related clearances and construction work around the Yamuna. The Covid pandemic also affected its progress.

The completion timeline continued to change even this year.

In January, officials had said the project could take another 15 months to complete. Two months later, the Delhi government approved a revised cost of around Rs 1,635 crore and set June 30 as the completion deadline.

That deadline was missed as well.

Cost Up By Over Rs 370 Crore

The cost of the project, initially pegged at around Rs 1,260 crore, has now risen by more than Rs 370 crore to about Rs 1,635 crore.

The delays and cost escalation have also come under scrutiny, with the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch registering a case earlier this year over alleged irregularities linked to the project. The allegations are under investigation.

PWD officials said both ramps of the elevated corridor have now been completed. One connects the corridor from the Mayur Vihar side, while the other links it with the existing Barapullah stretch near Sarai Kale Khan.

The bridge across the Yamuna has also been completed. The project includes a dedicated cycle track and pedestrian facilities.