To avoid congestion, Sohna Road residents demand more service lanes

Residents claim that in the master plan there was a provision of service lanes and a green belt that has been encroached leading to traffic congestion

Gurugram:Ten residential societies on Sohna Road are facing traffic congestion and other related issues throughout the day due to illegal encroachments on both sides of the road.

Encroachment on pedestrian path by street vendors at Gurugram-Sohna road near Vipul Greens residential society in Sector-48. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The residents claim that in the master plan there was a provision of service lanes and a green belt that has been encroached leading not only to traffic congestion but also making it risky for residents to approach the main road.

Hundreds of residents commute on the Sohna Road daily and get stuck for over half an hour during rush hour due to traffic congestion on the stretch. “It becomes difficult to even cross the road as the vehicular traffic is high. Many accidents have been reported on the stretch due to the narrow road. The stretch is a key one as it connects new and developing areas in the south of the city, which is also a gateway to the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway,” said Amit Jindal, president, residents’ welfare association of Vipul Greens, Sohna Road.

Former area councillor Kuldeep Yadav, said that despite repeated complaints to the civic agencies nothing had been done to decongest the stretch. “All the RWAs of the stretch have approached me for the solution several times. The traffic issue can only be resolved if the encroachment is removed and if the elevated road has an exit at Vatika Chowk. The road, known as NH-248, starts from Rajiv Chowk (NH-48) and leads to Alwar via Sohna and Nuh. The district administration should ensure that the green belt is free and service lanes are constructed,” he said.

Residents allege that food carts have illegally placed their goods on roads leaving little space for vehicles to pass. Many shops have occupied public space restricting the movement of vehicles leading to frequent traffic jams on the stretch. However, neither the traffic police, nor the Municipal Corporation teams are taking any action against the vendors, which adds to the chaos, alleged residents.

Mahesh Kumar, a resident of Malibu Towne, Sector 49 said that they get late for office almost every day due to the traffic situation on the stretch. “The traffic moves to internal roads to take shortcuts due to a traffic light at Vatika Chowk. We need a solution so that we can commute hassle free on the stretch,” he said.

Anant Verma, a resident of Bellevue Central Park 2, said that the stretch between Subhash Chowk and Vatika Chowk is the most dangerous. “Three wheelers and pick up vans drive rashly and school buses who come to pick and drop students have to wait as they do not get space to park. It is becoming difficult for parents to stand to drop off or receive their children,” he said.

The traffic police said they have started a drive to penalise people driving in a rash manner on the stretch and against those who are parking their vehicles illegally on the road. “We have deployed three teams on the stretch and over 100 vehicles have been challaned in the last 15 days. Our teams do not let anyone stop or park on the stretch unnecessarily and no carts are allowed on the main stretch,” said Virender Vij, DCP traffic.

Yogesh Tilak, project director, NHAI, PIU, Rewari said the issue of narrow service roads on Sohna Road near Subhash Chowk and adjoining areas is due to lack of land on both sides of the road for expanding the service lanes. “The issue of congestion on service lanes has been brought to our notice and we will take steps to resolve it with the help of other agencies,” he said, adding that the issue concerns a particular stretch only.