AAP protests at Dwarka Expressway over irregularities flagged by CAG report

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) The AAP on Wednesday protested at the under-construction Dwarka Expressway here after the Comptroller Auditor General of India reportedly flagged the huge cost escalation in the construction of the expressway.

Several party leaders and workers, including chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar and Reena Gupta, gathered near the Dwarka Expressway Highway, alleging the project to be a “scam”.

“This is such a big scam that the road, for which an approval of Rs 18 crore per km was given, was built at a cost of Rs 251 crore,” Kakkar told PTI.

According to media reports, the CAG audit report on the implementation of Phase-I of the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’ highway projects flagged how the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) decision to go for an elevated carriageway on the Haryana portion of the Dwarka Expressway pushed up the construction cost to Rs 251 crore per kilometer from Rs 18.2 crore per kilometer.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government has broken “all records of corruption”.

However, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has rejected the charge, calling it “gross misrepresentation of facts”.