Deadline over, NHAI yet to get land for expressway work

GURUGRAM: There’s more disappointment for buyers of homes in the 172 residential projects in sectors like 36, 37 and 81-115, along Dwarka Expressway. Huda, which was to hand over land to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) by July 7, to complete the expressway project, has missed the deadline yet again. Late on Sunday evening, though, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar tweeted that the construction will begin very soon, and that the entire stretch will be signal free.
Earlier this week, a joint team from Huda, NHAI and GMDA (Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority) inspected the road. They visited around 10 houses in New Palam Vihar and Tekchand ki Dhani that are yet to be demolished to make way for the road. A source told TOI all structures thare come in the way of Dwarka Expressway’s alignment, have been vacated, but they are yet to be demolished.




The officials instructed the property owners to demolish their structures by next week. Sources revealed Huda officials are also planning to conduct allotment draws for eight property owners, whose details will be finalised on Monday. “Dimensions of some of the plots allotted in the earlier draw are not in accordance with the original plot size. Therefore, these people will now be allotted new plots by Huda,” said Baldev Singh Rana, representative of these plot owners.

Meanwhile, the delay has miffed buyers who have bought flats along the Expressway. Though around 90m of land has been handed over to NHAI, there is a lot more yet to be transferred. “The Haryana government must immediately clear all remaining obstructions and hand over land on the Gurugram side to NHAI for speedy construction of Dwarka Expressway. The area suffers from lawlessness because of poor connectivity, which affects especially commuters. The state government has failed to execute anything within timeline, because of which NHAI is unable to finish the Expressway. Huda must immediately hand over land on the Gurugram side to NHAI,” said Syed Samir, a resident of Sector 111.

“We still do not have good connectivity from Dwarka Expressway to Delhi-Gurugram expressway or towards Dwarka in Delhi. Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Rao Inderjit Singh told us the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Dwarka Expressway. But the project is pending, as obstacles haven’t been cleared. We’re waiting for the Expressway to get completed for a decade,” said Manish Suman, executive member, Dwarka Expressway Welfare Association. “Huda is yet to remove all hurdles along Dwarka Expressway in a time-bound manner. We’re worried about this latest delay,” said Mridul Babbar, a homebuyer in Sector 102.

The project is estimated to cost around Rs 7,200 crore. The plan is to have a 27.6km-long signal-free stretch between Dwarka in Delhi and Kherki Daula in Gurugram. Besides improving connectivity, the Northern Peripheral Road, as the Expressway was known earlier, is expected to reduce travel time between Haldiram’s on NH-48 and Indira Gandhi International Airport to 15 minutes. Notably the project has already been delayed by 10 years.