CNG pumps, malls, schools and chaos: This road has it all

A 2km-long stretch on San Felipe Marg near Sector 49’s South City 2 has become a major bottleneck for commuters travelling from Vikas Marg to Sohna road. This, with the opening of big commercial establishments in the area.

Over the last six years, two malls, two hospitals, three CNG pumps and three schools have come up on the stretch, which has led to a massive spike in the number of vehicles on the road. Also, three big residential societies – Malibu Town in Sector 47, Sispal Vihar in Sector 49, and South City II in Sector 47 — have their entry/exit gates near the road.

Residents and commuters said the construction of the CNG pumps on the busy 30m-wide road about a year ago contributed to the traffic chaos. "The road was already congested as a lot of commercial centres, shopping malls and residential societies are located here. After the pumps came up, long queues of heavy vehicles waiting on the road to fill CNG make it difficult for the residents to reach their offices or homes," said Annitaa Singhal, a resident of Sispal Vihar.

Residents also said they had protested against allotment of land to the pumps to no avail. "We had protested against the land allotment to CNG pumps last year. We had written the authorities that the road will become chaotic. But the CNG pumps still came up," said Yashpal Singh, a resident of South City 2.

Many blamed the presence of four traffic signals and illegal parking too.

Four traffic signals have been installed on four crossings — at Nirvana Country road, crossing of South City II, near AVA court and at Sohna Road. "About five years ago, there were only two signals on the stretch. Over the years, as traffic increased, authorities came up with only two solutions — installing traffic signals and speed breakers on the road. However, this was done without any planning. The exit and entry points of three big societies already lead to traffic slowdown. These signals only make traffic movement slower," said Udit Kamboj, a resident of Malibu Towne.

Illegal parking is common near malls in the evening, near schools in the afternoon and near hospitals throughout the day, residents complained. "Cabs can be seen parked illegally near malls, hospitals and schools at all times of the day. Illegal parking by schoolbuses is common in the afternoon. Many visitors to malls park their vehicles on the roadside, making the situation worse even during weekends," said Sadhna, a resident of Sispal Vihar.

Meanwhile, traffic police said cops are deployed during peak hours on the road. "There is a checkpost on Sohna Road and cops are deployed on the stretch during peak hours. Signals were installed to manage traffic as it has increased on manifold on Sohna Road in the last two years," a traffic police officer said.