Despite strong opposition from environment organisations to cutting down trees for developmental projects, the department concerned claims that projects are important for making Delhi a world-class city and they will help protecting environment in different ways after the completion of work.
Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Delhi government also claim that they plant 10 per cent surplus saplings against the number of trees they unearth during various projects in the city.
A senior Delhi government officer said that the ambitious project of Vikaspuri-Wazirabad signal free corridor will save 23 days from the travelling time of the commuters in that area. The project is supposed to be completed by 2015.
“This signal-free corridor will save around 58,000 litres of fuel per day which costs around `280 crore. It will also reduce the carbon dioxide emission by 80 tonnes. It will bear a volume of 60,180 vehicles per hour,” said a senior official.
Pointing out the hurdles caused by various organisations on the pretext of damaging environment, the officer said, “The government will have to bear `17.7 lakhs per day if the construction of the project will be delayed. The total construction cost of the project is `1,440 crores and it will save this amount of fuel only in four years. The organisations who often complains about the projects must also know about the long-lasting benefits of the projects,” the senior officials said.
The Delhi Cabinet had given its nod to the construction of the 23.6 km long signal-free corridor between Vikaspuri and Wazirabad on May 21 last year. The corridor will have three flyovers, foot over bridges (FOBs) for pedestrians, bus lanes, green belt, footpaths, cycle tracks and rain water harvesting.