Barapula Project Row: CM Orders Probe Against Atishi

Troubles may increase for former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, as the Delhi government has directed the ACB to investigate a payment of Rs 175 crore made while she was the PWD minister. In the Finance Expenditure Committee meeting on Monday, it was decided to investigate this payment of Barapula elevated road phase three. It also came to light in the meeting that this amount was given to the contractor company due to the negligence of the previous Aam Aadmi Party government. The negligence of the Public Works Department related to this project was also discussed, in which Minister Pravesh Verma was also involved.

The Chief Minister took the issue seriously and directed senior officials to complete the project expeditiously. He also clarified that the amount was paid because the previous government did not allow the company to work.

The project is to construct an elevated road which will start from Barapula Nallah and reach Mayur Vihar Phase-III via Sarai Kale Khan. PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh and senior officials of the concerned department were present in this high-level meeting. The Chief Minister was told that the project will progress soon as permission to remove trees coming in the way is going to be received soon, which will enable the project to be completed on time.

The Chief Minister categorically said that there should not be any delay in this project and the government will not allow any shortage of budget for this project. Successful completion of the project will ease traffic between South Delhi and East Delhi.

Project: Barapula Elevated Road (Phase-III) from Sarai Kale Khan to Mayur Vihar was approved by the Delhi Government Cabinet in September 2011. A budget of Rs 1260.63 crore was allocated for this in December 2014. The work on the project started in April 2015, which was targeted to be completed within 30 months. The initial cost was Rs 1260.63 crore, out of which Rs 1238.68 crore has been spent so far. The estimated total cost is likely to be Rs 1330 crore, and currently 87 percent of the work has been completed.

The project will gain momentum after permission to remove trees is received soon. Rs 150 crore has been allocated for the financial year 2025-26, out of which Rs 86.43 crore has been spent till June 2025.

Rekha Gupta said that after the order of the High Court, the previous government paid Rs 175 crore to the contractor company. Atishi was the PWD minister in the AAP government at that time. According to the Chief Minister, the previous government neither filed a review petition in the court nor took any action against the officials. Due to the payment of this amount, other schemes of PWD were also negatively affected.