Commute via this Gurugram flyover after dark at your own risk

Rampura flyover, which is 2.4km away from the Kherki Daula toll plaza, was recently in the news after a concrete chunk fell off it on December 17. Now, residents in the area are also alleging that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has failed to install streetlights on the 700m flyover, putting lives of thousands of commuters at risk.
The flyover, which was opened to public in 2013, has had no streetlights since its inauguration. When TOI visited the spot, electrical poles without lights could be seen across the flyover. “Every time I travel via the flyover at night, I feel that I am risking my life. I request the departments concerned, as well as NHAI, to take immediate note of this and do the needful,” said Shibashish Rudra, a resident of Sector 81 who commutes regularly on the stretch.

Residents who live in the sectors along the NH-8, of which the flyover is a part, said even the service lanes have no streetlights. “It’s risky to cross the flyover at night. Not only that, commuters who use service roads too have to travel along dark stretches in the absence of street lighting,” said Amit Narain, a resident of Sector 90. Added Vikram Sahni, a resident of Sector 82, “Driving on this flyover during evening and night hours is a challenge. There are poles standing on this flyover, but without lights.”

The situation is the same for the IMT Manesar flyover, which was opened to the commuters in May 2018. “I was on my way from Gurgaon to Manesar when I noticed that the flyover doesn’t have any street lights. How can the authorities open a flyover without basic infrastructure? If an accident occurs on the flyover, who will take responsibility for it? Commuting on the stretch at night is a nightmare,” said Sadhna Arya, a resident of Sector 82.

The flyovers are maintained by Pink City Expressway, which is the concess-ionaire of all flyovers on NH-8 after Kherki Daula toll plaza till Alwar, Rajasthan. “Around 57 flyovers come under our purview. We are looking into this issue,” said a Pink City Expressway official.

NHAI said they are taking up the issue “seriously” with the concessionaire. The highways authority plans to terminate the contract between the concessionaire and NHAI for not fulfilling their duties. “We have already recommended the termination of the concessionaire, Pink City Expressway, as they are not doing their job properly. A notice in this regard was sent to them in December,” said N N Giri, NHAI project director (Jaipur).