Kejriwal opens Sarai Kale Khan flyover

New Delhi: The three-lane Sarai Kale Khan flyover was opened for traffic on Sunday, facilitating better connectivity between Central, East and southeast Delhi. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who inaugurated the flyover, congratulated and thanked everyone involved in its construction including PWD officials, engineers, contractors, agencies, and workers.

"Earlier, there used to be jams at T-junction, now people will not have to bother with it with the construction of this flyover. This flyover is 620 metres long. We sanctioned Rs 66 crore for this project, and completed it in Rs 50 crore only. Just as every other project of the Delhi government, we saved the money on this as well," he added. "With the construction of the DND extension, Ashram Underpass and now this flyover, people can travel without any interruptions. Earlier there used to be heavy traffic jams at Ashram.

There are no traffic lights on the entire ring road area within Delhi, be it the area of ITO, Chandgi Ram, Ashram, Moolchand, and Dhaula Kuan," he added. "As our next step, we're studying every main point of traffic jams in Delhi. Based on this study, we'll construct the U-turns, flyovers, etc as per the need to make Delhi traffic jams-free," he added. Citing facts and figures related to development of flyovers and underpasses, he said since 1947 till now, 102 flyovers and underpasses have been constructed in the national capital.

"Among these, 30 have been constructed by the AAP government in only eight years. What's been done in 75 years, 30 per cent of this has been achieved in just eight years by the AAP government. This shows how rapidly Delhi is being developed. In the coming times, 25 more flyovers are being constructed.

Nine flyovers are under-construction and another 16 are at the stage of approval. This will lead the tally to more than 125, and 50 per cent of this will be developed by the AAP government in 8-10 years," he noted. Citing the example of the Rani Jhansi flyover which was built at Rs 1,500 crore and had an initial cost of Rs 300-400 crore, the chief minister stated that any governmental development work in the country doesn't complete without cost escalation. "In Delhi, we complete all the work on time and save money in the process. In the construction of 30 flyovers in our government, we saved Rs 557 crore. It should be in the Guinness Book that there is a government in Delhi, India, that saves money on every task with complete honesty. Just as we save money in our homes, we work with complete honesty in the government and save every single penny," he added.