E-Paper
Gurgaon stretch of e-way claimed 337 lives in 4 yrs
The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway is one of the most- accident-prone roads in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway is one of the most- accident-prone roads in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Ever since it was thrown open to the public in 2008, a total of 337 lives have been lost on the 18-km stretch between the two toll plazas at the Delhi border and Kherki Daula, respectively.
The 27.7-km long Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway starts from the Rao Tula Ram crossing in Delhi and ends at Kherki Daula in Gurgaon.
The expressway had a bloody start with 115 people dying in fatal accidents within a year of its operation as the entire stretch did not have iron fencing on the medians, prompting mainly pedestrians and cyclists to cross the high-speed stretch in the absence of safer alternatives such as footover bridges.
Also, there was no law in place to bar pedestrians and slow-moving vehicles from using the main carriageway.
After public outcry on the high number of deaths, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) woke up from its slumber and installed fencing on the medians of the expressway. In 2009, the results were evident. The number of deaths came down to 66.
It was in 2009 that the NHAI awarded work of constructing five footover bridges to the Haryana public works department but till date, only three have been completed — two between Shankar Chowk and Iffco Chowk and one near Rajiv Chowk. Work on the fourth one, beyond the Hero Honda crossing, started recently while land for the fifth is still not available.
