E-Paper
Citizens’ protest works, makeover underway on Gurgaon’s orphan road
Tuesday morning marked a victory of sorts for many executives here who had been fighting for over six years for the fate of a 2.5-km stretch of potholed road facing their workplaces in Sector 18, reports Sanjeev K Ahuja.
The once-orphan road is now undergoing a makeover.
Tuesday morning marked a victory of sorts for many executives here who had been fighting for over six years for the fate of a 2.5-km stretch of potholed road facing their workplaces in Sector 18.
As the earthmoving machine reached the spot to start the digging work for the road’s renovation on Tuesday morning, the executives gathered around the spot with smiles on their faces.
It was these executives who had christened this road as ‘Anaath (Orphan) Road’ on April 30, 2009 as none of the civic departments were ready to own the responsibility of maintaining this road, quoting jurisdiction as a reason.
The irate executives had protested in a unique way: staging an enactment where a priest chanted mantras and conducted a havana (yagna) to mark the christening ceremony.
After Hindustan Times carried a story on the executives’ protest and former finance minister Birender Singh intervened, the road was handed over to public works department (PWD).
Recently, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) took control of this road and tendered out the work to a contractor for Rs. 4.45 crore.
The road will take 4 months to complete.
Gurgaon DM RK Kataria had symbolically kicked off the work and broken a coconut on December 24.
“It is one of the 41 roads we have taken over from PWD. We have awarded the work of constructing it new at the cost of Rs. 4.45 crore,” said Rajesh Khullar, Commissioner, MCG. “The road will be 10-meters wide and 18 inches think road and have interlocking tiles all along its pavements,” he said.
With Sector 18 on one side and village Sehraul on the other, the road is lined with well known corporate entities such as Siemens, Pearl Pet, HCL, Tupperware, Lumax, Orient Craft, Agilent Technologies, Munjal Showa and many others.
The executives said that just 180 meters of the length of the total 2.50 km long road had been left in motorable condition and rest was beyond recognition.
S Karir a senior executive with Siemens said that corporate citizens were very happy to see the work kick off.
“Finally we will have our own smooth road facing our offices. We all have decided to beautify the sides of the road with horticulture whet the road completes,” he added.
