CAG report sparked political turmoil

New Delhi: The cost of the 29.06-kilometer-long Dwarka Expressway has been revealed in detail by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG Report). The CAG stated in its audit report on the first phase of the Bharatmala project that the National Highways Authority of India board approved the Dwarka Expressway at a civil cost of Rs 250.77 crore per kilometer. While the Parliamentary Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved its development at a cost of Rs 18.20 crore per kilometer. That means, the cost of construction work on this project was 14 times the fixed amount.

Since the revelation of this matter, there has been an uproar in politics. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, shared a media clipping with everyone, claiming that the Modi government has broken all corruption records in the last 75 years. The Dwarka Expressway is being built to connect Delhi to Gurugram. The project was built parallel to National Highway 48, which connects Delhi and Gurugram, in order to minimize traffic congestion on the National Highway. In addition, the Kejriwal government started exposing the BJP government through their social media and shared 6 scams of BJP one by one.

The CAG report also stated that instead of rebuilding and shielding the entire eight-lane main carriageway, an underpass or flyover at the highway grade crossing would be a more viable solution. To avoid congestion, the Dwarka Expressway project included a plan to create an underpass in only one location. This would have decreased the massive cost of the project in the Haryana region. The Dwarka Expressway, according to the CAG, was assessed and approved without a thorough project study.

Furthermore, the CAG cited various concerns in its report regarding the number of housing units sanctioned and completed under the Bharat Mala project. According to the CAG report, the highway project reports from 2017 to 2021 were recently examined. The CAG has also questioned the construction of the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway and the Dwarka Expressway. This project was not even on the CCEA's list of approved projects, according to the CAG inquiry. NHAI has invested 33 thousand crore rupees at its current level. Bharatmala Project 1 is building 76,999 kilometers of road, according to the CAG audit. With this money, the NHAI is constructing 70,950 kilometers of road.