New Delhi: The Delhi government is likely to scrap a streetscaping project launched during the Aam Aadmi Party rule in the capital, PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said on Saturday.
The project was launched in 2020 by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government with the aim of road beautification.
However, due to the high costs of the project, the BJP government is now planning to scrap it.
“The high costs involved with the project make it impossible for the government to carry it forward. We are first focusing on improving the basic issues such as repairing potholes, proper illumination of roads and reducing traffic congestion. We will not continue with this project,” Verma said. Under the project, the AAP government planned to redevelop roads totalling up to 540 km and transform them according to “European standards”.
A pilot project in this regard was launched on 16 road stretches, measuring about 32 km in length. However, after the pilot project was completed by 2024, it was not extended any further.
Hitting back at the BJP, the AAP said in a statement, “The BJP cannot tolerate the fact that the AAP government launched a project to make Delhi’s roads clean and beautiful. Before the elections, the BJP made a promise that no development work undertaken by the AAP government in public interest would be obstructed.”
The first stretch developed under the project was in Chirag Delhi, which was inaugurated by then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Under the streetscaping project, model stretches of roads were created with the idea that the pedestrian passing through these routes will have a sense of patriotism alongside appreciation for modernity.