Arvind Kejriwal inaugurates Signature Bridge: Structure is double the height of Qutub Minar, was delayed for over 14 years

New Delhi: The Signature bridge over the Yamuna inaugurated at a function on Sunday is double the height of Qutub Minar and has been delayed for over 14 years. The new landmark connects Wazirabad across the river Yamuna to the inner city and will reduce the travel time between north and northeast Delhi. Inaugurating the bridge with a 154 metre pylon, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia said that it will be a centre of attraction among local and international tourists who come to Delhi to visit historical monuments and buildings like India Gate and Qutub Minar. [caption id=“attachment_5503001” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A view of the newly inaugurated Signature Bridge in New Delhi. PTI[/caption] The bridge will be a big relief to a huge number of commuters who were earlier stuck up in long traffic jams over a narrow bridge in Wazirabad area. The Western and Eastern approaches to the bridge will connect the nearby areas like Timarpur, Nehru Vihar, Wazirabad, Aruna Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar on Ring Road to Bhajanpura on Mangal Pandey Marg. The bridge will reduce the commuting time between the northeast areas and the inner city from 45 minutes to just 10 minutes, curbing pollution and saving fuel, a government statement said. The boomerang shaped pylon consists of two inclined columns, which are rigidly connected to the driving lanes and bend mid-way. The upper portion of the pylon anchors the backstay cables as well as the main-span cables, arranged in a harp like manner, the statement said. The pylon from a distance looks like hands folded in a greeting posture. Its top is created by a 22-metre high steel-glass structure, which will provide a panoramic view of Delhi. Visitors will be taken in four elevators with a total capacity of carrying 50 people to a 154-metre-high glass box on the top of the bridge to provide them a bird’s-eye view of the city, the statement said. Announced in 2004, the bridge missed several deadlines since 2011. The proposal for the bridge, mooted in 2004, received approval of the Delhi Cabinet in 2007. It was initially expected to be completed at a modified estimate of Rs 1,131 crore for the Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi in October 2010. In 2015, the cost of the project rose to Rs 1,594 crore. Sisodia claimed that the actual work on the bridge started when AAP came to power in 2015 although the idea of it was conceived way back in 1997 by the then Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma. He also alleged that the Centre created “obstacles” so that the bridge would not be completed in Arvind Kejriwal’s tenure.