Caution: Drive at your own risk on Dharuhera stretch

The 32-km Gurgaon-Dharuhera stretch of National Highway 8 (NH-8) is a nightmare for commuters, thanks to heavy trucks, perennial construction work and literally no traffic regulation. Siddhartha Rai reports.

The 32-km Gurgaon-Dharuhera stretch of National Highway 8 (NH-8) is a nightmare for commuters, thanks to heavy trucks, perennial construction work and literally no traffic regulation.

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From Kherki Daula till the point where the road turns for the Central Corridor project, only two lanes are functional with dust in the air and metal shards rolling — thanks to the flyover construction.

According to daily commuters, vehicles ply dangerously by moving across in the direction opposite to the traffic since there is no strict enforcement of traffic rules.

“I commute daily between Gurgaon and Dharuhera. On most days, I am not sure if I would make it back home in one piece. Truckers cover most of the road space, which is itself curtailed due to the haphazard construction.

Earth is dug and debris is strewed around the road. Jams at crucial points make the journey torturous,” said Shiv Rohilla, a resident of Sohna Road, Gurgaon. He owns a real estate business and has projects going on in Dharuhera.

As one reaches Manesar, exhaustion is bound to creep in as the roads are dotted with potholes. “The work on the project has come to a grinding halt at places such as Manesar flyover and Shikohpur. No work has started at Bilaspur Chowk. We have protested in the past but all in vain,” said Om Prakash, ex-sarpanch of Manesar.

Move a little further and there’s a semi-constructed flyover opposite Dara Singh Dhaba. The carriageway is again made to divert along a narrow service road which dangerously curves to join the carriageway.

The 32-km stretch is part of the 225-km Gurgaon-Jaipur Express being constructed by the Pink City Expressway Private Limited (PCEPL). The project was launched in 2008 and it was to be completed by October 2011. “We have tightened the noose aroud the concessionaire,” said a senior NHAI official.