NHAI identifies three alignment options for Gurugram-Farrukhnagar-Jhajjar highway

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Thursday identified three alignment options for a proposed highway connecting Gurugram, Farrukhnagar and Jhajjar, and has sent them to its headquarters for approval by the alignment approval committee, officials said

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Thursday identified three alignment options for a proposed highway connecting Gurugram, Farrukhnagar and Jhajjar, and has sent them to its headquarters for approval by the alignment approval committee, officials said.

The proposed corridor is expected to begin near the Harsaru bypass on the Gurugram-Pataudi Road (NH-352W) and extend to Jhajjar. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

According to NHAI officials, one option proposes widening the existing four-lane road between Wazirpur and Jhajjar to six lanes, with service roads on both sides. The other two options involve constructing greenfield highways from Harsaru to Jhajjar by acquiring around 200 hectares of land along two separate alignments.

The proposed corridor is expected to begin near the Harsaru bypass on the Gurugram-Pataudi Road (NH-352W) and extend to Jhajjar.

The 33-km Gurugram-Farrukhnagar-Jhajjar road is currently designated as state highway 15A. The Haryana government had requested the Union ministry of road transport and highways to upgrade the stretch, following which it was decided that NHAI would develop it as a six-lane national highway, officials said.

“The three alignments will be evaluated by the committee, and the approved option will be implemented. If a greenfield alignment is selected, it will be developed as an access-controlled highway on the lines of the Dwarka Expressway. If the existing road is widened, one additional lane will be added on each carriageway along with service roads on both sides. The estimated project cost is between ₹3,500 crore and ₹4,000 crore,” a senior NHAI official aware of the matter said.

According to an NHAI assessment, widening the existing road will require acquisition of around 160 hectares of land, while either of the two greenfield alignments will require around 200 hectares.

In May this year, NHAI appointed a consultant to study alignment options for the project. Officials said government land available along the selected alignment will be transferred free of cost wherever possible.

“In one alignment, around 17.2 hectares of government land is available. The second has about 2.5 hectares, while the third has negligible government land,” the official said.

NHAI officials said the proposed highway will improve connectivity between Gurugram and Jhajjar, reduce congestion on the existing road, and strengthen links with the under-construction Gurugram-Pataudi-Rewari highway, which serves several industrial and logistics hubs.

Rahul Yadav, a Farrukh Nagar resident who commutes to Badshapur daily said that it takes around 1.5 hours to cover 30 kms presently, and there was urgent need to upgrade the road as the traffic volume has increased significantly with industrial and residential projects increasingly coming up in this area “The traffic on the entire stretch is heavy as lot of people work in Gurugram. The number of commercial vehicles has also increased. Instead of expanding the present road, the government should build a new road,” he said.