Pragati Maidan tunnel has become a 'monument of shame': Delhi Congress chief

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely on Sunday targeted the BJP government over alleged "glaring infirmities" in the Pragati Maidan tunnel, saying it has turned out to be "a monument of shame" and a "potential threat" to commuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in June 2022 inaugurated the 1.3-km-long tunnel and five underpasses as part of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project that aims to ease connectivity between central Delhi with the eastern parts of the city and the satellite towns of Noida and Ghaziabad.

In a statement, the Congress leader said, "The BJP government whose latest mantra is to make the country a 'Viksit Bharat' should be ashamed of the fact that the Pragati Maidan tunnel, constructed at a whopping cost of Rs 777 crore, has now turned out to be a monument of shame...the tunnel has become a potential threat to commuters." Lovely also alleged that the tunnel was the "finest example of the Amrit Kaal of the corrupt" under the BJP rule, as a flawed design and hasty construction of the tunnel have made it unusable and dangerous.

He said the tunnel's flawed design was clear when last year's monsoon rains and an overflowing Yamuna river flooded the tunnel and damaged the costly murals on its walls.

The Delhi government's Public Works Department (PWD) has issued a notice to Larsen and Toubro over the alleged "glaring infirmities" in the project while demanding a "token amount" of Rs 500 crore from the firm and directing it to immediately initiate repair work. Larsen and Toubro has said that it has made a counterclaim of Rs 500 crore against the PWD. PTI