‘Highway body, govt must decide on e-way flyover’

Commuters facing frequent snarls on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway can heave a sigh of relief. The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Haryana government to decide on the construction of a flyover at Hero Honda Chowk within 15 days.

Commuters facing frequent snarls on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway can heave a sigh of relief. The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Haryana government to decide on the construction of a flyover at Hero Honda Chowk within 15 days.

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The ultimatum came during hearing of a petition filed by a residents’ group, seeking construction of a flyover to ease traffic movement at the busy intersection, which connects the city to the high-speed link.

The bench comprising chief justice AK Sikri and justice RK Jain took strong note of the issue that the NHAI and the state government failed to resolve the matter in the past five years, ever since the 27.5-km expressway became operational in 2008.

The petition was filed by the Hero Honda Chowk Sangharsh Samiti (HHCSS), which was formed by the commuters-cum-residents living near Hero Honda Chowk.

The lawyers of the NHAI and the public works department (PWD), Haryana, told the court that they want to construct the flyover at Hero Honda Chowk but the cost sharing issue is not yet solved.

The court directed the NHAI and the government to hold a secretary-level meeting and resolve the cost sharing matter in the next 15 days.

“The judges were surprised to know that the two agencies failed to resolve the flyover cost sharing factor, delaying the project all the five years,” said ND Kaushik, a lawyer.

The court said that if the two (NHAI and PWD) fail to resolve the issue in 15 days, the chairman of the NHAI and principal secretary of the PWD, Haryana must remain present in persons in the court on the next date of hearing on March 25.