Gurgaon-Faridabad Road lit up after 8 years

In mid-February, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) had installed 734 LED streetlights on the 11.1-kilometre stretch of the road between Khusbhoo Chowk and the toll plaza at Bandhwari.

The Gurgaon-Faridabad Road is set to be illuminated by streetlights after nearly eight years of darkness as the work on connecting LED streetlights with power lines was completed in the Gurugram section of the road on Friday, officials said on Sunday.

The stretch remained unlit for years after the lights were dismantled for the widening of the state highway in 2012. This had also made it an accident-prone zone. (Yogendra Kumar/HT file photo)

The stretch remained unlit for years after the lights were dismantled for the widening of the state highway in 2012. This had also made it an accident-prone zone.

In mid-February, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) had installed 734 LED streetlights on the 11.1-kilometre stretch of the road between Khusbhoo Chowk and the toll plaza at Bandhwari. However, work on connecting the streetlights with the main power lines remained.

The remaining 14 kilometres of the 25-kilometre stretch falls in Faridabad, where the responsibility for installing and maintaining streetlights would fall under the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF).

Raman Yadav, executive engineer, electrical division, MCG said that this work has now been completed.

“We have spent around ₹1.69 crore on the project and it has taken around 18 months to complete. Although we had not set a deadline for the project, the model code of conduct for general elections and state elections, NGT order last winter to stop construction and the coronavirus epidemic had resulted in interruptions. Otherwise, work would have been completed late last year,” said Yadav.

The streetlights were dismantled in July 2012, when the state highway was being widened from a two-lane road to a four-lane one.

In a report in January, the Gurugram traffic police had identified Ghata crossing, on Gurgaon-Faridabad Road as one of the seven major points in the city where accidents were taking place frequently due to lack of illumination at night.

“Lack of illumination is one of the major contributors to accidents. Sharp cuts and several blind spots have made driving on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road even more dangerous. The reinstallation of streetlights would, thus, make a major difference in bringing down accidents at the stretch,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, programme coordinator with Haryana Vision Zero (HVZ).

Besides connecting the two cities, the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road also provides an alternative route to reach destinations in south Delhi, along the heavily congested Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road.

As per a June 2016 study on traffic and transport by the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation (HMRTC), nearly 1.3 lakh people crossed the Gurgaon Faridabad Road at Baliawas on a daily basis. It is estimated that over 1.7 lakh people use the stretch on a daily basis.