Cops open Signature Tower underpass for 5 hours without NHAI approval

Underpasses and flyovers at Signature Tower, Iffco Chowk, Rajiv Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk are likely to be opened for trail from January 1, 2018. They will be officially inaugurated in March next year.

The traffic police on Wednesday opened the partially complete underpass at Signature Tower for five hours—from 1.30pm to 6.30pm—to ease traffic congestion at the junction without permission from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The traffic police opened one side of the underpass—from Maharana Pratap Chowk to Huda City Centre—due to road construction near Crowne Plaza. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The traffic police said black-topping work, that was underway on surface road between the Huda Gymkhana Club and Crowne Plaza, blocked traffic movement between Maharana Pratap Chowk and Huda City Centre, forcing people to take long detours, thus creating chaos at Iffco Chowk.

Traffic police officials said commuters heading from Maharana Pratap Chowk, to reach Huda City Centre road near Plazio Hotel, had to take a left at Signature Tower, move to Iffco Chowk, take a U-turn here and move left towards Leisure Valley and again right.

“This created traffic chaos at Iffco Chowk. We had no option but to open the underpass for a few hours on an emergency basis without permission from the competent authority,” ACP traffic Hira Singh, said.

“Road construction was underway near Crowne Plaza that kept commuters from going straight from Maharana Pratap Chowk to Huda City Centre. This caused traffic congestion; we opened the Signature Tower underpass for four five hours in the afternoon to ease traffic movement,” he said.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), meanwhile, was not amused.

NHAI project director, Gurgaon, Ashok Kumar Sharma said, “I had no information about the traffic police opening the underpass. The city police and the contractor responsible for underpass construction should have taken permission.”

“We would never allow traffic to ply on an incomplete road. In case any mishap happens, who would be responsible? I have spoken to the contractor but he refused that the underpass opened. NHAI will write to city police in this regard,” he said.

Underpasses and flyovers at Signature Tower, Iffco Chowk, Rajiv Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk are likely to be opened for trail from January 1, 2018. They will be officially inaugurated in March next year.

On November 6, the under-construction elevated road at Iffco Chowk was briefly accessed by commuters without the knowledge of authorities. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and traffic police denied opening the stretch for public use on Thursday and an investigation is under way. High tension poles have been left at the point where commuters take the elevated road. There’s an accident waiting to happen should a motorist lose control of his vehicle and ram the poles.