It was only three months ago that officials woke up to the need of implementing the project, and this has already turned life upside down for residents and commuters.

The two-arm subway, located on Shivaji Marg near the Natraj theatre, was planned to help pedestrians cross the road. Yet like most government projects, this one too lay ignored for two-and-a-half years. Officials now say that it will take another year to complete the subway.

Residents point out that there was an overhead bridge in the area earlier, but it was rarely used as it was inconvenient. It was, therefore, decided that the bridge would be broken down and replaced with a subway.

So the bridge was dismantled, but the subway that was supposed to take its place did not come up.

Residents add that with the subway construction getting underway from June, a section of the road has been cordoned off, hampering traffic flow and leading to more jams.

MCD officials say that they are not to be blamed for the delay. The officials supervising the project are Chief Engineer D.D. Nayyar, Superintending Engineer Kanwal Nain, Executive Engineer Sanjay Jain and Assistant Engineer Radhey Sham Gupta.

MCD Executive Engineer Sanjay Jain says: ``Work was delayed as the main feeder lines supplying water to the area were on the site. Permission had to be obtained from authorities at the Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant before the lines could be shifted. Now that the bulk of shifting work is over, we have started the construction. The subway will be completed by June 1999.''

However, considering the fact that a bunch of telephone and electricity cables have now been discovered on the site, this seems like a tall claim.