The deadline for widening the arterial link between Hero Honda Chowk and Basai Chowk has been pushed back. To add on to the misery, the two bodies that were responsible for the work do not share the same opinion on the time left. GMDA is confirming that the work would be finished in October whereas NHAI says that it is going to take at least two years for the construction. In the year 2017, Manohar Khattar Lal, the Chairman announced that they would be making this stretch snarl-free. GMDA started widening the road from Kadipur Bus Stop to Basai Chowk and on the other hand, NHAI has not yet started their road improvement work between Hero Honda Chowk and Umang Bhardwaj Chowk.

During the peak office hours, the chaos and intersections are very usual. One could literally experience the vehicle flood in the narrow stretch during that time at multiple spots. The narrow stretch does not have a convenient barricading and makeshift jersey restrictions as it has been cleared out by GMDA. The diversion of the traffic is forcing vehicles to underpass because of the blocking of the Jaipur-Delhi side of Hero Honda Flyover. Thousands of vehicles heading towards new sectors or Manesar take this route to reach Pataudi Road to bypass toll plaza from the day FASTag was rolled out at Kherki Daula.

Due to the rain, the condition of the stretch between Basai Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk has been worsened. A traffic cop stated, “The situation is very challenging these days. The entire road is a mess. Although it is temporary as the road is being widened and flyover is being built to clear jams, managing traffic get s difficult at times Many vehicles get stuck or even get toppled down and that leads to long tailback. Getting cranes to clear them as becomes very challenging.”

The project is supposed to be completed in June 2020. The project aims at converting the two-lane stretch into a six-lane and the construction of two flyovers one at Basai Chowk and the other at Umang Bhardwaj Chowk. With this, the project includes a “railway over-bridge” to provide connectivity to Dwarka Expressway and an underpass at Khandsa Road Crossing. NHAI would only be responsible for the stretch between Umang Bhardwaj Chowk and Basai Chowk while GDMA will construct the remaining 3 km.

The project is running behind the scheduled time and NHAI has not even started with its work yet. The project is facing hurdles from bureaucrats since it involves felling of trees from the green belt.  A claim has been made by the project contractor that for almost one year the construction of Basai Flyover was at a halt as civic bodies didn’t have a notion of utilities that were underground. The work has taken up the pace since the shifting of utilities has begun and is expected to be completed in March-April 2021. The cost of the project is likely to go beyond Rs. 80.75 crore.

RK contractor said, “This project is running at least a year behind schedule. Earlier the civic bodies were clueless about what utilities are there underground. And once we realised, it took several months to fix accountability and subsequent shifting. Then came the construction ban in October last year.” GMDA is emphasizing that the project should be completed by October 2020. A senior GMDA official stated, “We are using enhanced technology that will help us expedite the work. Moreover, all the hurdles are now clear. So the project will continue without any halt and widening would be done by August or September. And the flyover is expected to come up around October-November.”

NHAI is yet to issue the work order regarding Umang Bhardwaj Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk. The project comes under Rewari project that is implementation unit of Highway Authority. An NHAI Rewari Official informed, “the tender is to be floated this month. We are awaiting approval from the ministry as the project will start from Hero Honda Chowk and go up till Rewari. In a week or so, we hope to get the go-ahead and by next month, work orders would be issued. Thereafter, the entire project will take about 2 years to be completed.”

Source: Times of India

Share on Facebook
Tweet
Follow us