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NHAI to seek nod from traffic police before expanding Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway underpass work
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will have to keep the district traffic police in loop before expanding the construction work of three underpasses on Delhi-Gurgaon expressway and a flyover on old Delhi-Gurgaon Road. In fact, improvements have been suggested in the NHAI’s construction plan so there is least congestion on roads and commuters do not face any discomfort.
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A meeting was held between senior police officers, road safety officers (RSO) and NHAI officials earlier this week. Following which a joint inspection was conducted by traffic cops, RSOs and NHAI on Friday. Sources told TOI that the team found over two dozen flaws in the NHAI’s three-phase construction plan for the building underpasses at Rajiv Chowk, Signature Tower and IFFCO Chowk, while, a flyover will be constructed on Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road. These flaws were identified on the basis of the snarls they could cause, or even didn’t offer a carriageway for the vehicles to cross while the construction work was on.
For instance, the Rajiv Chowk was often being choked in past couple of weeks due to the NHAI’s construction work. “During inspection it was noticed that the highway authority is also supposed to widen the road in addition to constructing the underpass. They could have first widen the road so vehicles had a carriageway to move on and would have taken internal lanes to construct the underpass. But instead they took over the main road instead and as a result there is now a bottleneck at the stretch and commuters are facing the difficulties,” said Rajive Nandwani, a road safety officer.
In fact, a water pipeline burst near Rajiv Chowk earlier this week, led to choking of the junction. Similarly at Maharana Pratap Chowk, the construction work has narrowed down the road space which is leading to snarls. The remaining lanes, including the one coming from bus stand are badly damaged and have potholes which makes it difficult to drive over it.
Following this, NHAI has been asked to take a nod from the traffic police before expanding to any other parts of the road near these underpasses.
“We have suggested them some improvements in their construction plan so there is always room on the road for vehicles to move. The joint team inspection will be done whenever they would want to expand the area under construction because once the area is dug up, nothing can be done till it is filled,” said Sibash Kabiraj, joint commissioner of police.
“For now we have asked them to give road users some space near the statue at Maharana Pratap Chowk and widen the old Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. There is some construction material lying on the slip road coming from Signature Tower towards this crossroad which will be removed by the end of coming week,” adds JCP Kabiraj. Valeri Nichushkin Authentic Jersey
