Delhi govt scraps AAP’s streetscaping project

The Delhi government has decided to scrap the former Aam Aadmi Party government’s ambitious streetscaping project which aimed to transform arterial roads into “European style public plazas”, as it said that its implementation would incur huge costs.

PWD minister Parvesh Verma said that “spending ₹1 crore per kilometre for beautification of roads is a luxury” at a time when basic and safe road infrastructure is the need of the hour.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will instead focus on ensuring long-term repairs of all stretches and improving road design, the minister said.

The AAP criticised the move, saying that the BJP backtracked on its promise to not discontinue development works undertaken by the AAP government during its tenure.

Minister Verma said, “The streetscaping project is very expensive and focuses on beautifying the roads, However, all we have been given (by the AAP government) is the legacy of broken roads which do not have footpaths or even signages, and drains that have not been desilted. There are thousands of potholes and damaged road patches.”

He added that there are several stretches which also see persistent congestion.

“Instead of merely decorating the roads to make them look “European”, we want to ensure long-term repairs of all stretches and focus on how design can be improved so that Delhi’s roads become an example that other cities and countries emulate,” said Verma.

In August 2020, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced redesigning of 540km of 100-metre-wide roads in the Capital “as per European standards.” Work started in 2021 work on 16 sample stretches, totaling around 40km, and was completed by 2023. During the campaign for the assembly elections held earlier this year, the AAP also announced that it will continue the streetscaping work across all 1,400 kilometres of PWD roads.

The project entailed a complete redesign of the right-of-way (ROW) and turning them into open public spaces. It included curated landscaping, shaded seating areas, state-of-the-art lighting, vibrant street furniture, sidewalks, sculptures, plazas, fountains and comfortable walking and cycling spaces. The main carriageway and junctions of these roads were also geometrically corrected for better uniformity, safety and universal accessibility.

The 16 beautified stretches included Ring Road sections from Moolchand to Ashram Chowk; Mayapuri to Moti Bagh; Shantivan to Rajghat, Vikas Marg from Karkari More to Laxmi Nagar, Narwana Road, Britannia Chowk to Outer Ring Road (Pitampura), Wazirabad, Majlis Park, Karkardooma, KN Katju Marg in Rohini, Netaji Subhash Place to Rithala, parts Rohtak Road near Tikri border, Shivdas Puri Marg from Moti Nagar to Pusa roundabout among other sites. In South Delhi, these stretches are located on Lodhi Road near Indian Habitat Centre, parts of Aurobindo Marg and Nelson Mandela road near Vasant Kunj.

To be sure, this is not the first time that the newly formed BJP government has modified projects proposed or implemented by the former government. The Rekha Gupta-led government recently rebranded the proposed AAP’s Mohalla Bus scheme as DEVI bus service. It is also in the process of renovating the AAP’s Mohalla Clinics into Aarogya Mandirs under the recently implemented Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Criticising the latest move, the AAP said: “Not only have they shamelessly reneged on every promise — from ₹2,500 monthly support for women to free gas cylinders on Holi — but they are now deliberately dismantling the AAP government’s work, troubling Delhiites.”