Cycle tracks, exchange of revenue roads high on the list of agenda for MCG’s House meeting

Constructing cycle tracks along Golf Course Road (GCR) and Golf Course Extension Road (GCER), exchanging revenue roads for land, and setting up digital libraries

Constructing cycle tracks along Golf Course Road (GCR) and Golf Course Extension Road (GCER), exchanging revenue roads for land, and setting up digital libraries across the city are some of the key items on the list of 20 issues that will be discussed in the upcoming House meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Monday.

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Cycle tracks

Earlier, on October 2, the city’s first cycle track was opened between Huda City Centre and Subhash Chowk. The proposal for building similar cycle tracks along GCR and GCER has been mooted by Mahesh Dayma, MCG councillor of Ward 34.

MCG officials privy to the matter said that since both GCR and GCER are owned the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) it is unlikely that this exact proposal would be approved by the House but instead, a survey for setting up cycle tracks within MCG’s arterial roads is likely to be approved.

“We can only execute engineering changes on cycle tracks on stretches falling within our jurisdiction. At the most, we can approve this proposal within the House and then forward it to GMDA for perusal. Either way, GMDA already has plans for setting up cycle tracks along both the concerned stretches,” said a senior engineering wing official of the MCG.

GMDA has the onus of maintaining all the master roads in the city, while the responsibility of maintaining arterial roads, stretches that connect a particular sector or a village, lies with the MCG.

GMDA is planning on setting up 650 kilometres of cycle tracks in the city. In the first phase, stretches originating from HCC towards Signature Tower, Iffcco Chowk, Kanhai traffic light, and DLF Phase 1/ DLF Phase 4 crossing will be covered. In the second phase, stretches such as GCR, GCER, MG Road, and Sohna Road would be re-engineered to make way for cycle tracks.

Digital library

Mahesh Dayma has also proposed the agenda for building digital public libraries.“In this digital age, there is a paramount need for an advanced technology-enabled public library with all the necessary modern facilities and equipment. Currently, there is no decent library facility in the city. It will not only enhance the quality of life of citizens but also provide them with world-class infrastructure. The library can be built keeping in mind sustainable infrastructure and ecological norms with proper parking facilities and dedicated halls and auditoriums for hosting seminars and conferences,” stated Dayma in his agenda proposal to the MCG.

As per MCG’s engineering wing officials privy to the matter,the land for such a project is in the process of being identified.

Revenue Roads

Another agenda proposed for the House meeting is regarding the exchange of revenue roads and giving MCG land of the same value.

For example, if MCG has a revenue road of one acre in Sector 50 worth ₹3 crore, then a builder looking to claim the revenue road can offer the MCG 10 acres land in Sector 102 worth ₹3 crore in exchange.

The issue of revenue roads is a major one in the city especially in condominiums and townships, where such a road, often surrounded on all sides by a condominium or township, serve no purpose.

With the revenue road belonging to the government, a builder can also not fence it or use the vacant stretch for any purpose. Before the city started expanding in the 1980s, revenue roads used to provide connectivity to villages. Over time, village lands were sold to builders for developing townships and condominiums, however, revenue roads could not be touched and development work has to be carried out around it.

In its proposal, the MCG town planning branch has highlighted that they have received two such proposals from builders for exchanging lands, one in village Sihi and Harsaru, and the other involving a land exchange in Ghata village and Sector 89.

“Adhering to the directions of the MCG commissioner to host House meetings at a new venue each time, the meeting this time will take place at the community centre in Sukhrali. This way, more government buildings will be looked after while officials would also get to witness localised civic problems faced by residents in a particular area,” said SS Rohilla, public relations officer (PRO), MCG.

Other agenda in the MCG House meeting include a report on MCG’s policy on street vendors and to explore possibilities of regularising more vendors who may have lost income due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the construction of a community centre in South City 2 and compiling a detailed project report for the drainage situation in sectors 27 and 28.