E-Paper
New sector road riddled with potholes; GMDA, contractor trade barbs
Gurugram The stretch from Kherki Daula to Basai railway overbridge, where construction of the 20-kilometre Dwarka Expressway is going on, is riddled with potholes.
Gurugram The stretch from Kherki Daula to Basai railway overbridge, where construction of the 20-kilometre Dwarka Expressway is going on, is riddled with potholes.
Construction of packages 3 and 4 — Haryana border to Basai railway over bridge and Basai railway overbridge to southern peripheral road/NH-8, respectively — is currently underway. The median of the stretch has been cordoned off for work on the elevated flyover.
Officials of L&T, the concessionaire, said that the curbs on construction mean repairs cannot be undertaken right away. Work has come to a standstill after the Supreme Court-mandated anti-pollution authority, Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (Epca), had banned construction due to rising pollution levels in Delhi-NCR. “The roads will be repaired immediately after the Epca ban is lifted. We are also concerned about the safety of commuters, but if we start any repair work, a fine will be imposed on us,” said RK Mishra, project director, L&T Limited.
Residents said “excessive sprinkling of water” as the main reason for the increasing number of potholes on this road, since construction work on this stretch started this January, whereas the contractor for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said there are other reasons behind the number of potholes rising.
Bhupinder Narula, resident, Sector 83, said, “Excessive sprinkling is one reason why the number of potholes has risen on this stretch. Also, the big canter trucks which use this stretch also cause potholes; they need to be stopped too.”
An official of L&T said that the road was not made properly by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Corporation (GMDA) in the first place, which has created potholes on this stretch.
The NHAI contractor said that the use of poor material in construction could be the reason behind the present road crumbling. “The potholes on the stretch have occurred because of bad material used by the GMDA. The entire stretch was handed over to us by the GMDA in 2018 and was completely in a bad shape,” said Mishra.
V Umashankar, chief executive officer, GMDA, said, “We have handed the road one year ago. We did not spend money on it because, anyway, the road was going to be reconstructed. They are supposed to maintain it during the period of construction, to the extent of making it motorable.”
The concessionaire for the project said that it will repair the entire stretch after the Epca gives permission to start construction activity. At present, the construction ban is in place, as part of the measures to bring down the level of pollution.
Manoeuvring one’s car to avoid a pothole is a task for commuters, who have to move slowly on this stretch to avoid damage to their vehicles.
Praveen Malik, vice-president and spokesperson, United Association of New Gurugram, said, “It’s hard for any commuter to drive on this stretch as the number of potholes is countless. Authorities should immediately repair the potholes, failing which there is a danger of accidents.”
Also, the 20-kilometre stretch is without any streetlight since January, when the Dwarka Expressway project started, said Malik.
