NHAI to build 9 km flyway on Dwarka Expressway

Gurgaon: The longest flyover in NCR will come up on the Dwarka expressway, a 9km stretch from the Delhi-Haryana border to the Basai railway overbridge in Gurgaon.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) this week invited tenders to build this elevated, 8-lane corridor, which will come up over the 6-lane main expressway that is still under construction. The flyover is part of an upgrade plan that the NHAI is rolling out across the entire 28km span of the road. Around 80% of the road will either comprise flyovers or underpasses. "Out of the 28km stretch, around 23 km would be access-controlled expressway," said Udeep Singhal, NHAI project director for Dwarka expressway. He said the existing surface road would primarily be used as a service lane and for local transport.

Envisioned as the fourth link between Delhi and Gurgaon — after MG Road, NH8 and the old Delhi-Gurgaon road —Dwarka expressway originates at Shiv Murti in Delhi and ends at Kherki Daula in Gurgaon, near the toll plaza on NH8. But the road is running years behind schedule, though thousands of new apartments have been built there and sold. Homebuyers have not been able to move into the flats because the road is incomplete.

But Dwarka expressway is expected to witness heavy traffic when it opens, more so because Gurgaon's new sectors have been built on either side of it, and the flyovers and underpasses are necessary to avoid gridlocks like the ones that NH8 currently witnesses. The exercise to build flyovers and underpasses and turn the road into an access-controlled ones will be carried out in four phases, according to the NHAI.

Phase 1 (6.5km) from Shiv Murti to Bharthal Chowk and Phase 2 (3.4km) from Bharthal Chowk to the Delhi-Haryana border are in Delhi. Phase 3 (10.2km) from the Delhi-Haryana border to Basai railway overbridge and Phase 4 (7.9km) from Basai railway overbridge to Kherki Daula are in Gurgaon. The tender given out this week, on September 19, is for Phase 3.

Work on remaining three phases will start later. In Phase 1, NHAI is in talks with the Airports Authority of India, land acquisition in Phase 2 is at an advanced stage and Phase 4 has still to overcome some litigation.

Dwarka expressway was originally planned as six-lane expressway between Delhi and Gurgaon and it was expected to be completed before the Commonwealth Games in 2010 but was derailed by numerous lawsuits. In March 2016, the Haryana government requested the Centre to declare the road a national highway. NHAI took charge after that.

People who had invested in the area are still keeping their fingers crossed. "We welcome the NHAI move. But NHAI has invited tenders for only one of four phases and we hope authorities will clear the obstacles coming in the way of the project," said Sudesh Sharma, who has invested in a residential property in Sector 103.

Delhi-Manesar Expressway put on hold due to high land cost

The proposed Greater Southern Peripheral Road (GSPR) project, also called Delhi-Manesar Expressway, has been put on hold due to the high costs of land acquisition. The project was aimed at enhancing connectivity between the Manesar and Delhi as well as reducing the traffic burden on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway.

The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) was responsible for land acquisition for the project, which would then be developed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). However, HUDA has cited fund shortage due to which it will not be able to acquire the land needed for the project.

Officials explain that the land acquisition cost will be much higher than the cost of constructing the road. HUDA has recently acquired 100 acres for the construction of the Central Peripheral Road (CPR) at a cost of Rs 700 crore. It should be noted that construction cost of the road is a mere Rs 20 crore. The Authority is already having a hard time paying compensation to farmers who lands have been taken over in the last few years. HUDA has to pay Rs 11,000 crore to clear pending dues of land owners in Gurgaon alone. Meeting its daily operation expenses is also turning to be a huge task for the Authority which is depending on regular auctions to arrange funds.

HUDA administrator Yashpal Yadav shared that the acquisition had started but was later put on hold due to a court order. HUDA has urged NHAI to confirm the feasibility of the project as the land acquisition involves critical financial implications.