NHAI confident of getting Army nod for service road

The work on the 3-km-long service road between Rajokri flyover and Palam, stalled due to face-off between National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Indian Army, may be completed soon.

The work on the 3-km-long service road between Rajokri flyover and Palam, stalled due to face-off between National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Indian Army, may be completed soon. The service lane would end the problems of slow-moving vehicles, which are forced to take the main carriageway of the Gurgaon-Delhi Expressway due to lack of service roads.

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NHAI sources told HT that the work on the controversial stretch might begin in a few days as NHAI officials along with the contractor would meet on Wednesday for a final agreement. NHAI sources said the conflict with the Army authorities has been resolved and the permission to begin work would be granted.

“We are meeting the Army authorities on Wednesday and we expect to get their permission to begin work on the stretch along the Army’s land. In the process of constructing the road, we had to dismantle the boundary on the Army land but we will rebuild it. We will convey this to the Army authorities during the meeting,” said Sanjay Jain, the proprietor of Gawar Construction Ltd, entrusted with laying the road.

The problem area is the 540-metre area of the 3-km-stretch that falls along an open Army land. NHAI had wanted to acquire some land from the Army to widen the road from 5.5 metres to 7.5 metres, a proposition which the Army declined. Consequently, the stretch in question would be narrower than the rest of the road: 5.5 metres as against 7.5-10 metres.

The Army had tried to disrupt the road laying work time and again and late last month it had even seized the contractor’s equipment.

After Jain complained about the obstructions, the highway administrator, Gurgaon, threatened to frame charges against the Army personnel concerned for trespassing and unauthorised occupation. The administrator had also sent a notice to the Army, arguing that the latter had no right to interfere in the matter.

The service lane has been constructed in three sections: from Rajokri flyover (Samalkha turn) to the IOC filling station on the same road, from the Kapashera junction to the Mahipalpur flyover and from Mahipalpur to Palam.