New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday frowned upon two city government departments for “quibbling” over the amount to be paid for construction of the “long overdue” Signature Bridge across the Yamuna and gave them the last opportunity to ensure the project is completed without any cost escalation.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar made it clear that if the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) did not sort out the issue, then it will call all their senior officials to court.

“This is public money, not merely a job,” the bench said and directed the Delhi chief secretary to convene a meeting to resolve the matter.

The bridge connects Delhi with Uttar Pradesh’s industrial areas such as the Tronica city in Ghaziabad.

“The PWD and DTTDC are quibbling over the amount to be paid for the Signature Bridge which is long overdue. One last opportunity is given to them to sort out the matter so that the bridge can be constructed without any further enhancement of cost,” the court said.

It also directed the DTTDC chairperson and chief of engineering, PWD to physically inspect the bridge and the alternatives provided to the citizens to satisfy themselves about the construction. They were asked to file a report before the next date of hearing on July 20.

The observations by the court came after the PWD told the court that it has already paid `1,344 crore for the project as against the initially agreed cost of `544 crore, and now the DTTDC was asking for `200 crore more.

The PWD said the cost of the project was revised thrice at DTTDC’s requests and the entire payment have been made. It said under the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them, it was to finance the project and DTTDC was to provide “staff, project management, quality assurance, contract and financial management for implementation of the project”.

The DTTDC, on the other hand, told the court that the cost of the project has escalated. It had earlier told the bench that subject to the payment of an additonal `250 crore, the work would be completed by June this year.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Pratibha Chopra, who pointed to the delay in the project and alleged that the bridge’s construction had missed several deadlines since 2011.

Announced in 2004, the project received a nod from the Delhi Cabinet in 2007 and was initially expected to be completed at a modified estimate of `1,131 crore by the Commonwealth Games held here in October, 2010.

In 2015, the cost of the project rose to `1,594 crore. Reportedly, the bridge was proposed for the first time as early as in 1997 at an initial cost pegged at `464 crore.

The bridge, when completed, is likely to share the burden of vehicular traffic being borne by the Wazirabad bridge which itself, according to PWD, requires “structural rehabilitation and strengthening”. The government said the bridge had obtained environmental clearance in 2011 and was to be completed by December 2013. The date of completion was pushed to June 2016 and then to July 2017, which has been further shifted to December 2017.           — P