Gurgaon’s Metro future: Traffic & parking chaos

Talk to any Gurgaon resident about the Metro, and a grim look appears on his face. It’s not that they are not happy. It’s just that all they can look forward to is massive traffic jams since the Metro stations don’t have sufficient parkings.

Talk to any Gurgaon resident about the Metro, and a grim look appears on his face. It’s not that they are not happy. It’s just that all they can look forward to is massive traffic jams since the Metro stations don’t have sufficient parkings.

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Combined with the fact that there’s no local transportation, the local authorities—the police and administration—are looking at it as a recipe for disaster.

The main concern that most potential Metro users have is how will they reach the Metro station? Once they reach there, where will they park their cars?

The police are not a happy lot. “Imagine the situation when the upcoming Fortis Healthcare facility and the HUDA City Centre Metro Station mall become operational in a few months. With no feeder bus and inadequate parkings, people will park their cars on the roads,” said Gurgaon police commissioner S.S. Deswal.

The HUDA City Centre Metro Station is located near Unitech Park Plaza roundabout. The roundabout already has Max Hospital on one side and Fortis Healthcare is setting up a 950-bed Fortis International Institute of Medical Sciences (FIIMS) on 7.5 acres of land on the other side.

While the 6-storey mall at the station will be completed in October, the station is ready for use, the DMRC officials said.

Meanwhile, the DMRC has no plans to start a feeder bus service for Metro stations in Gurgaon.

The DMRC officials have already clarified that it had no plans to start a feeder bus service for Metro stations and it was the state government’s responsibility.

The Haryana government has plans to start 450 buses, but not immediately.

The Cybercity Welfare Society has tied up with DLF Group and a private logistics firm to start its own shuttle service to pick and drop its employees at Metro stations.

Resident like Anuradha Kuntal are a worried lot. “The city lacks local transportation. The only mode available is the rickshaw. The stations also lack sufficient parking. Where will I park my car?” she said.

Daljit Singh, the chief project manager (Gurgaon Line) DMRC said, “Parking space has been provided in the Metro stations as per the survey and detailed project report made three years back. We believe it is sufficient. We hope the Haryana government has conducted a fresh traffic survey and made the required arrangements to manage the traffic around Metro stations.”