A Cover-up job at Connaught Place (CP)

After brazening it out for days over the Connaught Place makeover — which started so late that no one was in any doubt that it won’t be completed by the time of Commonwealth Games — the NDMC has begun a massive cover-up. The sites for the three new subways under construction are now being covered by tonnes of loose earth. The civic body seems to have finally thrown in the spade.

The NDMC claims that the work on constructing the retaining walls for the subways has been completed though labourers working at these sites insisted that no such work had taken place. The civic body wants to resume work after the Games.

In fact, NDMC spokesperson Anand Tiwari is now saying that construction of these subways was never a part of the Games projects. Why NDMC then decided to take up this work before the Games and turn CP upside down is a question no one is willing to answer. Chairman Parimal Rai refused to talk about the CP mess when approached by this reporter.

NDMC had already dug up the premier commercial centre as part of the ongoing facade restoration work, construction of parking, streetscaping etc. In December last year, it was suddenly seized by this idea of upgrading the five existing subways besides constructing eight new ones. Eventually, work was taken up on only three.

Said an NDMC official: ‘‘The three subways — two at Panchkuian Road and one at BKS Marg — have been covered with earth and a road will be laid over it. Work will be resumed after the Games. It will not cost us anything extra as the tender is valid for one-and-a-half years.’’ The approximate cost of upgrading the subways and constructing new ones was estimated to be Rs 20 crore.

Experts are now apprehensive that filling the subways with loose earth might lead to road cave-ins during the Games but NDMC rules out any such possibility, insisting the work is being done ‘properly’.

Said Tiwari: ‘‘NDMC will take up subway work along the middle carriageway of the Outer Circle after Games with work having been completed at the two ends.’’

However, the president of New Delhi Traders’ Association, Atul Bharghav, told TOI: ‘‘No work was started on the subway opening up near the Panchkuian Road.’’ Plans to construct the fourth subway at Chelmsford Road was abandoned after initial digging.

Meanwhile, NDMC has also closed most of the openings made for installing escalators at the existing five subways. According to the civic body, the five subways — Janpath, Parliament Street, Super Bazar, Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Kasturba Gandhi Marg — will be ready for use by the Games.

‘‘Drainage barrels are coming in the way of the escalator work. We will, however, try to install escalators in two subways,’’ said Tiwari. The main objective of the upgradation work at the existing subways was to install escalators in them. It seems highly unlikely that even one of the five subways will finally have escalators.

Said Bharghav: ‘‘We are just glad that this mess is finally over. At least things can return to normal.’’