A day after closure, U-turn at Kherki Daula reopened after public complaints

Gurugram admin reopened the Kherki Daula U-turn after residents complained of traffic jams, despite NHAI's safety concerns leading to its initial closure.

A day after closing the U-turn at Kherki Daula toll plaza, the Gururgam administration reopened it on Friday evening after several residents complained about congestion and traffic jams. Skylark, the highway toll operator, said that administration and police teams came to the plaza and got the U-turn opened. The U turn was closed on the recommendation of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) due to the high risk of accidents at the site.

The U-turn at the Kherki Daula toll plaza on National Highway 48 in Gurugram on Friday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The U-turn in question is on the carriageway from Jaipur towards Delhi that commuters use to go towards Manesar and take sector roads to Naurangpur, Badshahpur and Sohna Road. This turn is also taken by commuters going to Sectors 69 to 74 along the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR).

NHAI officials did not respond to requests for a comment on the reopening of the U-turn on Friday.

“The U-turn has been reopened for movement of vehicles,” said Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police, traffic. “The U-turn was reopened around 3.30 pm on Friday by the police and administration team,” said Kripal Singh, senior manager, Skylark.

The closure of the U-turn on Thursday, without prior announcement, led to large traffic jams in the afternoon and evening as several vehicles which did not wish to pay the toll turned around and drove on the wrong side to return to Manesar and take another route. “Several residents complained about the problems due to this road closure so higher authorities decided to reopen the U-turn,” said a traffic police officer at Kherki Daula.

On Friday morning, several residents from Gurugram sectors 70 to 74 met the Gurugram deputy commissioner and traffic police chief and apprised them about the problems caused by the closure of the U-turn. “We met the deputy commissioner, Gururgam, and police authorities and informed them about the heavy congestion and jams at the toll plaza due to closure of U-turn. We are thankful to authorities for taking a sensible decision and reopening the road,” said Jaspreet Singh, resident of Umang Winter Hills condominium, which is adjacent to the highway.

Singh said that residents of at least 40 condominiums in sectors along SPR and Rampura Road were badly affected by the move as they had to travel an extra five-six kilometres to reach their homes after paying the toll.

“The closure of U-turn was not required and it should have been avoided,” said Rahul Kumar, a commuter.

NHAI on Thursday had said it also planned to close another U-turn at Kherki Daula by next week.

On Thursday, a senior NHAI official had said that in April 2024, they had asked the Gurugram district administration to “urgently and immediately” close the two U-turns after the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) identified the sites as traffic black spots. They raised the issue again in the district road safety committee meeting held in December, citing safety issues, after which one of the U-turns was closed on Thursday.

Gurugram deputy commissioner Ajay Kumar, who is the head of the district road safety committee, did not respond to HT’s phone calls and messages seeking a response on why NHAI’s recommendations were not acted on between Thursday and April 2024.

According to data compiled by Gurugram Vision Zero, Kherki Daula witnessed 28 crashes in the last three years before 2024 of which 12 were fatal. In 2023, there was one crash, in 2022 there were 13 crashes of which five were fatal and in 2021 there were 14 crashes with seven fatalities.

The letter cited by NHAI officials based on which the U-turn was shut on Thursday was sent by NHAI project director, Dwarka PIU, to the Gurugram district administration in April 2024. It said, “Kind attention is drawn towards fact that Kherki Daula is a MoRTH identified Black Spot [ID no. HR-037 (2011-2014)]. From an engineering perspective, the reason for accidents at Kherki Daula was identified as U-turns (through median cuts) before and after User Fee Plaza at km 42.00 of NH-48. Thus, in view of the road safety of highway users and to prevent the accidents, support from district administration is required for closure of said median cuts and U-turns just before and after the Kherki Daula User Fee Plaza are closed/barricaded and the wrong side traffic movements are curbed.”

The letter also said that the matter is being monitored by a Supreme Court committee on road safety and immediate urgent action is necessary for closure of said median cuts. “As the matter is being monitored by Hon’ble Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, an immediate urgent action is necessary for closure of said median cuts. Accordingly, it is kindly requested to appoint a Duty Magistrate for facilitating the placing of barricades/restoring the median in the vicinity of the Kherki Daula User Fee Plaza to reduce the accidents for this MoRTH identified Black Spot,” the letter written by NHAI said.