Gurugram: NHAI radar survey finds cavities under Dwarka expressway

The cavities were allegedly caused due to a large water pipeline laid by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), said officials.

A ground penetrating radar survey (GPRS) conducted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on a stretch of Dwarka expressway located on the central peripheral road (CPR) has found multiple cavities under the road surface.

The cavities were allegedly caused due to a large water pipeline laid by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), said officials.

The highway authority has asked GMDA to carry out the repair work, taking into account the safety of road users.

The lane from Elan Mall towards NH-48 had to be barricaded on November 2 after a portion of the road caved-in due to subsidence of earth underneath it, NHAI had said.

The survey revealed that 16 cavities were identified under the road surface where the pipeline was laid.

NHAI letter dated November 20 and submitted by highway project contractor said that a GPRS survey was carried out on the left hand side of the carriageway (27.750 kms) which found a large number of cavities under the road surface, indicating a critical condition, requiring immediate action and rectification.

In response, GMDA said, “It is submitted that cavities in the main carriageway and service road are not entirely due to the pipeline. Most of these cavities are far from the pipeline and are not in the alignment of the pipeline. It may be due to any earlier defects during embankment construction work of the road.”

Some cavities are away from pipeline work, implicating that these already exist under the carriage-way surface. Others though already repaired, may have existed even before the pipeline work as similar to other cavities mentioned in the report, it added.

According to GMDA officials, the agency is laying two segments of pipelines under the CPR to ensure connectivity of the master pipeline from Chandu Budhera to sector 72 water boosting station. “The work on the road was started in July. We had also shared all designs and plans of the ongoing work with the NHAI,” the senior GMDA official said, adding that water supply infrastructure worth hundreds of crores was lying infructuous due to non-completion of this pipeline.