Pilgrims, vehicles to vie for space on Gurgaon e-way

Kanwariyas who undertake an annual pilgrimage to fetch holy Ganga water have a major hurdle to cross in Gurgaon — an 8-km stretch of road with speeding vehicles.

Kanwariyas who undertake an annual pilgrimage to fetch holy Ganga water have a major hurdle to cross in Gurgaon — an 8-km stretch of road with speeding vehicles.

HT Image

Though a special lane has been marked on the service lanes along the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for the pilgrims who travel on foot, the stretch between Rajiv Colony and Kherki Daula toll plaza has no such facility. Here, the authorities have marked a lane on the main carriageway itself.

According to a spokesperson of the Delhi Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited, the firm managing the expressway, “We have made this provision because two-way traffic on service lanes along this stretch leaves no space for pedestrians. Seeing heavy traffic, we anticipated a spillover of pilgrims on the carriageway. So, we have marked a lane on the highway.”

Interestingly, an HT team that surveyed the area also found knee-deep water on the service lanes, making them off-limits for pedestrians. Making matters worse, concrete barriers put to demarcate the pilgrim lane have not been connected with ropes to avoid trespassing, as decided by the city police and the expressway firm. Moreover, the main carriageway is itself damaged at several spots, exposing pilgrims to accidents.

According to the prescribed norms, pedestrians and slow-moving vehicles are not allowed on the highway to avoid mishaps amid speeding four-wheelers. Two-way traffic on service lanes, cited as the reason behind choosing the main carriageway, is another traffic rule violation on and along highways.