Tall promises of development, from flyovers to multispecialty hospitals, have fizzled out into stagnant project sites that create more commotion than order, say the residents of West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The first thing on their minds when going to cast their vote on May 25 will be to support a candidate who will be able to complete the development plans that have long since overshot their deadline, say voters.
Some of the under-development projects that stick out like eyesores in the constituency include the Punjabi Bagh flyover, the Hastsal hospital at Uttam Nagar, and sections of the Dwarka Expressway and Urban Extension Road II. Voters say that though they waited a long time for these new constructions, they are nowhere near completion and have become a daily inconvenience.
The 496-metre flyover, part of the 1.68-km Punjabi Bagh-Rajouri Garden corridor redevelopment plan proposed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2022, will help commuters collectively save at least six lakh litres of fuel every year, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi had claimed. According to officials of the Public Works Department, the project, which is expected to connect Punjabi Bagh to Azadpur, Dhaula Kuan, Rohtak Road and Gurugram, is being built at a cost of ₹352.3 crore.
‘Traffic worse than ever’
However, since the beginning of work in September 2022, traffic congestion has shown no signs of easing for commuters, who claim that both the construction of the flyover and the digging of land for the metro in the area have increased travel time on a road that has been damaged for years.
Vikas Goyal, who has been a resident of east Punjabi Bagh since 1994, said though the construction began with full pomp in three phases, only one flyover has been made operational so far. “All the roads are perpetually blocked, and because of that, we cannot avail of cab or delivery services. Even autorickshaws don’t want to come here because of traffic,” he said, adding that a commute that once took five minutes now takes at least 45 minutes.
In Dwarka, the first-ever eight-lane elevated Dwarka Expressway on NH48, once considered a “big achievement” in tackling traffic by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, also remains under construction. The project, which connects Dwarka to Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurugram in Haryana, was proposed in 2006 at a budget of ₹7,500 crore. While the Haryana section of the expressway was inaugurated in March this year, residents living near the remote village of Dhul Siras in Dwarka remain doubtful about the mega-project bringing development to their area.
Advocate Prashant Godara, a resident of Dhul Siras, said, “Even with the expressway coming up here, the area has no street or traffic lights. The roads are in terrible condition due to the heavy machinery. We only hope that construction ends soon so at the very least, we can return to normalcy.”
Inadequate health care
Located deep in the heart of Uttam Nagar, the 690-bed Hastsal-Vikaspuri hospital too remains incomplete, despite claims of it having been completed last June. Although the foundation stone for the project was laid 18 years ago under Sheila Dikshit’s Congress government, construction only began in 2019, when former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced that two other hospitals in Madipur and Jwalapuri would also be built as part of the ₹211-crore project given the high density of population and lack of health care facilities in the area. The other two hospitals are also under development.
While Mr. Sisodia’s aim to provide free and quality health care to patients remains on hold, many of the residents of West Delhi, which is home to 76 of Delhi’s 360 urban villages, cannot afford to go to private hospitals in the meantime.
“The rural and semi-urban population living here can’t even think of going to private hospitals. We were happy to hear of the government hospital project, but now, we don’t know how long it will take for completion. The other nearest government hospital is far, crowded, and difficult to access, but it is our only hope,” said Farukh, 28, a bangle-seller who makes ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 a month.
Close fight
The constituency, which underwent delimitation in 2008, has gone to polls thrice since. While Mahabal Mishra, then a part of the Congress, was MP from 2009 to 2014, Parvesh Sahib Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scored two consecutive wins in West Delhi in 2014 and 2019. However, all 10 of the Assembly seats within the constituency were won by AAP in the 2020 State elections.
This year, Mr. Mishra, who was suspended from the Congress for “anti-party activities” in 2020, is contesting on an AAP ticket. He joined the party in 2022. The BJP, meanwhile, has dropped Mr. Singh, and has fielded Kamaljeet Sehrawat, a fresh face. Both candidates have claimed that easing commute and upgrading infrastructure are their focus areas.
While Mr. Mishra has said he will extend the metro line in the area and fix the age-old issue of parking space, Ms. Sehrawat’s “blueprint” includes plans to build new parks, sports facilities, and community halls. She has also promised to repair roads and provide better water supply in the area.
But voters say that above all else, the completion of existing projects should be the priority. “Leaders usually come here only around elections, but this time, we want the candidates to take stock of the situation and work on executing their promises. We do want flyovers and repaired roads, but not with such disarray that even calling an ambulance is difficult,” Mr. Goyal said.
