GURUGRAM: Nestled between Dwarka Expressway and Old Delhi-Gurugram
road is Block C1 of
Palam Vihar, where around 40
families live. Thanks to the utter apathy of the public works department (
PWD) — which
dug up the road outside their houses a year and a half ago and is yet to lay it back — 20 of these families have temporarily abandoned their homes, while the remaining 20 are stranded in theirs.
Friday’s rain worsened their situation, as the remnants of the road has turned into a swamp, in which five electric poles have fallen in the storm, completely blocking their way.
The road starts just 200m ahead of The Presidium School. It was dug up as part of the Bajghera railway over-bridge project, work on which started around two years ago.
When TOI visited the spot, one could barely reach the houses without getting knee deep in the muck. And what was earlier a service lane lined with trees, now resembles a series of large sewer pits flowing into the people’s porches, after it was dug up. “We’ve been living in pain for a year-and-a-half now, but the current situation is just unbearable. My husband could not return from work last night and had to stay at my brother-in-law’s place. My kids didn’t go to school. I can’t risk them walking on this road with their schoolbags,” said Swarna Rajesh, a homemaker living in the area.
It was a similar story with Ashwani Arora, who said, “My wife, a doctor, couldn’t return home yesterday from her clinic. She stayed at a relative’s place nearby. I have three kids and none of them have gone to school today.” The collapsed electricity poles have made the houses more inaccessible. Residents had alerted the discom, and their team visited the spot on Friday morning, but they weren’t cleared till afternoon.
“I have aged parents. My mother is a heart patient. We’ll be doomed in case of a medical emergency, as we can’t go anywhere and no one can come here,” said Sunil Verma, another resident. He added that even the overflowing sewage is a health hazard for residents, while its stink made life a living hell.
The situation is so bad that inhabitants of 20 out of the 40 homes have chosen to leave. “The tenants have chosen to leave, while owners who had a choice have also moved elsewhere. It’s people like us who have no choice who are staying behind,” said Dwarika Prasad Rai, a resident.
Earlier, the road used to be lush green from the numerous trees that lined it, but it looks bald now, after 33 trees were felled for the project. Residents alleged the service lanes have also been taken up by PWD for the ROB, implying their houses will be on the main road once it is widened. They had approached NGT to stop the tree felling, but their plea was dismissed.
“When we approached the PWD engineers, they said this situation will last three months. Over a year later, construction work has stalled once again, with officials saying it will only resume after the monsoons, and finish by year-end,’ said Verma.
TOI tried to contact PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh for his comment, but he was unreachable.
PWD dug up the road outside the houses for work on a railway overbridge
