Delhi: Gadkari stuck in jam for 2 hours, wants decongestion plan soon

Highways minister Nitin Gadkari came down hard on NHAI officials after being stuck on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for nearly two hours on Monday night,

Highways minister Nitin Gadkari came down hard on NHAI officials after being stuck on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for nearly two hours on Monday night, a daily ordeal for the residents of Delhi-NCR. He has ordered the National Highways Authority of India to submit a plan to decongest the stretch by month-end.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari came down hard on NHAI officials after being stuck on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for two hours. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT File Photo)

“The minister gave a dressing down to NHAI officials for failing to address the massive traffic snarls the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway experiences every day,” a ministry official told HT on condition of anonymity, adding it was not the first time Gadkari had raised the issue. “He has held several meetings with officials but no solution has come up so far.” Gadkari made his disappointment known at another meeting with NHAI officials on Tuesday morning, the official said.

Traffic jams are common during office hours on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway. (Rahul Grover/HT File Photo)

The minister got a first-hand experience of a Delhi commuter’s plight while returning from a private function on Monday night. His vehicle was reportedly stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Mahipalpur stretch of the 28-km expressway.

NHAI officials, however, blamed the chaotic traffic on more than 20,000 weddings the city witnessed on Monday night.

An estimated 2 lakh vehicles ply every day on the expressway that connects the national capital with the glitzy Gurgaon suburb which houses several Fortune 500 companies. The stretch was made toll-free last year in hopes of easing the traffic situation but the move hardly made a difference to the peak hour rush.