#RealtyNewsRoundUp: Clean India Mission Funds Lie Idle While Delhi Gets Dirtier, Points Out CAG

In its recent audit, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed out a slew of irregularities in the financial administration of Delhi. According to the CAG, the Delhi government has not constructed a single toilet under the Swachh Bharat Mission that was launched on October 2, 2014. Funds worth Rs 40.31 crore allocated for this purpose are lying idle. The CAG has also pointed out that municipal bodies in the national capital did not build any new road projects in the past five despite all the hullaballoo around “decongesting Delhi”. The CAG reports noted lack of coordination among multiple agencies responsible for planning and developing roads in the national capital is the key reason behind that.

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India's first smart and green highway, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said. The prime minister will dedicate to the nation the 135-kilometre six-lane access-controlled expressway, built at a cost of nearly Rs 11,000 crore, to decongest the national capital. The project will divert an estimated two lakh vehicles passing through the national capital daily to this bypass.

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The government is planning to build an expressway between national capital Delhi and India’s financial capital Mumbai, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said. The super expressway would pass through the less-developed areas falling in the region, and allow commuters to finish the 1,400-km journey between the two cities in 12 hours. The project will be wrapped up in four phases.

Meanwhile, the government has adopted the lane kilometre concept for measuring its highways instead of the traditional linear length method. The lane kilometer method involves measuring the length of each new lane that is built instead of counting the overall length of the highway.

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The Centre's submission that the Delhi Master Plan 2021 was the "solution" for the issues related to unauthorised constructions in the national capital has failed to impress the Supreme Court. On April 3, the apex court termed the argument as a ploy to “legalise the illegal”. The top court also asked the Centre whether it had any plans have to deal with the ongoing tussle around the sealing drive.

Source: Media reports