Car parks, cultural centre and sports facility, four of MCG’s biggest projects, continue to remain on paper

Of the five biggest projects of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) — three multilevel car parks, art and cultural centre in Sector 53 and an international sports stadium at Wazirabad — construction on only one project has started

Of the five biggest projects of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) — three multilevel car parks, art and cultural centre in Sector 53 and an international sports stadium at Wazirabad — construction on only one project has started while the rest continue to remain on paper, according to a document prepared by the MCG’s engineering wing on Tuesday.

Some of these projects were announced as far back as 2015, said officials. The MCG document, a copy of which is with HT, lists the status of all 24 major development projects that have been planned at a cumulative budget of ₹863.55 crore. (HT Archive)

Some of these projects were announced as far back as 2015, said officials. The document, a copy of which is with HT, lists the status of all 24 major development projects that have been planned at a cumulative budget of ₹863.55 crore.

“Multilevel parking projects, especially, are of utmost importance in the city as the city has limited to no parking space available. Such facilities need to be built across all major public centres in the city, and MCG officials have been directed to take up the matter on priority,” Madhu Azad, mayor, MCG, who chaired Tuesday’s review meeting, said.

Azad said that she has directed engineering wing officials to develop a web portal for internally monitoring the status of all major developmental projects.

Multilevel parking projects

Parking facilities are of utmost importance in Gurugram, where around 30,000 new vehicles are registered annually. However, the city has a solitary multilevel car park and 15 parking lots run by the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP).

Due to the scarcity of parking facilities, illegal parking on roadsides is a common sight in the city, with traffic police officials fining around 39,000 people last year and around 47,600 people in 2019 for the violation.

In March 2017, the then Urban Local Bodies (ULB) minister Kavita Jain had announced the setting up of three projects. In September 2019, Haryana minister Rao Narbir Singh had also laid a foundation stone for the projects.

According to the document, work on a multilevel parking facility near Old Railway Road (ORR) in Sadar Bazar started in September 2019. However, only 20% of the work has been completed so far.

For a multilevel car park near the Sadar Bazar post office, the MCG is yet to get land from the Public Works Department (PWD) while encroachments by a political party office and illegal houses at the site of Kaman Sarai multilevel car park have prevented on-ground work.

“I have set a deadline of August 15 next year for officials to complete the ORR Sadar Bazar multilevel parking project and expedite work on all the other 23 major projects,” Azad said.

The three parking projects are expected to cumulatively accommodate around 1,750 vehicles. The ORR facility will have a capacity of accommodating around 250 vehicles, the post office facility around 510 vehicles, and the Kaman Sarai facility, around 1,000 vehicles.

Sports stadium

The sports stadium project was announced by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar back in June 2016. In 2017, the MCG had leased 12 acres from the HSVP for the project till 2116, a 99-year agreement.

Since then, the project has been revised at least three times.

With regard to the Wazirabad international sports stadium project, the engineering wing’s document states that administrative approval for the facility was granted in July 2018 and the DNIT (detailed notice inviting tender) by the project’s consultant is pending approval.

Until April 2019, a ₹130-crore archery range and multi-purpose indoor sports complex was proposed on the 12-acre plot.

In May 2019, this was revised to a ₹20-crore recreational sports complex, as it was a more feasible option along the lines of Azad Maidan and Shivaji Park in Mumbai, with a ground reserved for football, a jogging/running track for athletes, a skating rink, indoor badminton courts, and a basketball court.

In August 2020, the plan was revised for a third time, with the MCG deciding to construct a ₹200-crore sports complex with a swimming pool, shooting range, basketball court, kabaddi court and hostel for players.

A senior MCG official privy to the matter said that the tendering process of the third proposal has also been shelved, with the project undergoing a design change once again. “There were issues with the design of the third proposal, especially with regard to projected costs. New designs are being considered. However, nothing is finalised as of now,” the official said, on the condition of anonymity.

Art and cultural centre

Similar to the sports stadium project, the Sector 53 art and cultural centre also got administrative approval in September 2019. However, the MCG is yet to finalise a consultant for the project.

The project was floated in 2015 and it was to be built along the lines of the India Habitat Centre (IHC) in Central Delhi. The project got administrative approval from the Haryana government in 2019 for ₹194.95 crore, but there was confusion regarding the agency that would be responsible for it.

The MCG floated tenders on three occasions but failed to find a contractor for the project.

The Haryana government decided to hand over the project to the buildings and roads (B&R) division of the PWD amid resistance from HSVP, which owned the seven-acre plot where it was proposed and wanted to undertake the project.

In February 2020, the MCG in its House meeting decided to recall the project from the PWD as construction was yet to start. However, the project status remains uncertain.

“There has been no progress in the project since it was handed back to the MCG. The matter only comes to surface during review meetings and is forgotten soon after,” a second senior MCG official, requesting anonymity, said.