NH status to fast-track Dwarka expressway progress

Prospects of over 100 housing projects located along the highway are likely to improve once work on e-way gets going in Gurgaon and Delhi

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is hopeful of a formal notification to start work on Dwarka Expressway soon. National highway status for Gurgaon’s lifeline will bring cheer to homebuyers grappling with delayed possession or lack of basic services in projects they have moved into.

NH status for the Dwarka Expressway project will ensure timely completion of the road as it will come under the NHAI control. (S Burmaula)

Land acquisition-related litigation has halted work on the expressway for almost six years and at least seven deadlines have been missed.

In March this year, union transport minister Nitin Gadkari accorded national highway status to the stretch but NHAI is yet to receive a formal notification to that effect. Once that happens, work is expected to begin in earnest on the 27-km road link both on the Gurgaon and on the Delhi side. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has fixed June 2017 as the final deadline for completion of the expressway.

NH status for the project will ensure timely completion of the road as it will come under the NHAI control. The authority will appoint a highway administrator. Acquisition of land will also become quicker in Delhi and Gurgaon once Section 3 (d) of the National Highways Act is notified. Disputes pertaining to compensation are also expected to get resolved quickly.

Once stretches of the expressway are developed, especially sections where work was held up because of land acquisition issues, real estate activity is likely to pick up in the area. Right now prices of housing projects in the area are in the sub Rs 6,000 per sq ft range, say real estate experts.

Projects that will benefit from the NH status are the ones near the Khirki Duala to Palam Vihar areas that comprise sectors 88, 89, 90, 102, 105 etc. Most of the developers in this area too are likely to time completion of their projects with the completion of the expressway. Projects close to the Delhi border may take some time as connectivity along the Delhi side does not exist on the ground due to litigation issues.

Over 70,000 homebuyers have bought projects along Dwarka Expressway.