Gurgaon: Sohna Road residents irked by traffic on service lanes, jams

Residents have complained of traffic congestion outside their condominiums due to commuters driving on service roads and encroachments

Sohna Road residents have complained of traffic irregularities on a 2km stretch of the road. They claim nothing has changed despite repeated complaints to traffic officials and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).

Residents of condominiums on Sohna Road said they have repeatedly complained to authorities about the traffic congestion and encroachments, but to no avail. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Residents have also alleged that commuters take the service lane to cross the stretch during peak hours, restricting their movement around their condominiums.

Sohna Road has over 20 condominiums and gated societies, apart from a number of malls and eateries. Traffic congestion is reported there daily.

“Subhash Chowk is very chaotic with traffic moving in all directions. With the U-turn being shifted, commuters use the service road. We don’t know why the authorities built a flyover from Sohna Road to Hero Honda Chowk when there is hardly any traffic coming from Hero Honda Chowk,” said Sachin Grover of Vipul Greens on Sohna Road.

“The most dangerous road in Gurgaon is Sohna Road with deregulated signals and service lanes being used to go in all directions. The shifted U-turn for Parsvnath GreenVille is a case in point,” said Ravi Pillai of Orchid Petals.

Amit Jindal,  president, Vipul Greens RWA, also pointed out the problems of encroachment. “Fruit vendors on the road are a menace. The four-laned road has been reduced to two lanes,” he said.

Nirlept Sigh, president, Uniworld 1 RWA, said, “We have approached the MCG over and over again. Since Sohna Road already gets heavy traffic, people tend to take the service lane, choking it. It gets really tough to enter and exit our condominium. The encroachments also make life hell. Our residents have complained several times, but no action has been taken.”

According to officials, Sohna Road was selected for the latest phase of the anti-encroachment drive as pedestrians and commuters complained of reduced road width causing snarls and preventing pedestrians from using footpaths.

Ashok Bakshi, DCP (south), said, “We have received several complaints from the residents and have directed SHO Sadar to deploy PCR vehicles and a team to ensure that commuters do not use the service lane.”