Why this wall is unlike any you’ll see (for one, it’s built on an e-way)

GURUGRAM: This is a wall like no other. You could call it an ode to the inherent flaw in urban planning, or a symbol of the obstructive challenges Gurugram seems never at a loss for. An uncanny ability to un-simplify.

What this wall (4.5 feet tall and 300 metres wide) does is stop people from driving down a perfectly motorable road and reach the highway (NH-8) in the shortest possible time. And guess what, as absurd as this wall sounds, it stands on firm legal ground. The wall was built as recently as 2016 at the point where the Dwarka Expressway joins the Gurugram-Delhi Expressway (NH-8) so that residents living in the city’s new sectors (83-110) are left with no option but to take a detour and exit at NH-8 further up, which forces them to cross the Kherki Daula toll plaza if they are heading back towards Gurugram or Delhi. The result — a link between two expressways was walled, and people were asked to pay toll to commute from one part to another of the same city.

The wall was built by the Gurugram-Delhi Expressway concessionaire, Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL), in a single day on September 16, 2016, to cut its revenue losses. The adjoining stretch of Dwarka Expressway had not even been constructed then but residents were using a muddy path to take NH-8 without having to cross the toll plaza. The wall plugged this path.

The concessionaire was entitled to cut its losses and did what it thought was right. And no one in the government objected because the planners had tied themselves in knots.

First, the Gurugram-Delhi expressway was built without giving much thought to how people living on one side of it would go to the other — the result is the rush of underpasses and flyovers being built now. Second, licences to build housing societies were given away freely along the Dwarka Expressway, which lies perpendicular to NH-8, again without any thought to how they would connect with the rest of the city — the result is almost a protest a day by residents of the new sectors who have a visible wall and several other invisible ones (there are no power and water lines yet) to negotiate.

In December 2018, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) turned the muddy path on which the wall was built into a road. Now, in the face of strident criticism, it is planning to write to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which penned the contract with MCEPL, to bring down the wall. A senior HSVP official said, “We will write to NHAI asking it to demolish the wall and provide residents of new sectors connectivity with NH-8.” NHAI officials seemed to have softened their stance. Last December, they had rubbished the idea of demolishing the wall. But on Saturday, a senior NHAI official told TOI, “MCEPL has to finally give a no-objection certificate on this issue.”

Residents of the new sectors see a glimmer of hope in the recognition that the wall is illogical. Jigar Shah, a member of United Association of New Gurugram (a common platform of residents) said, “We have been approaching the authorities to ensure direct connectivity with NH-8 and hope the wall will be taken down.” Shibashish Rudra, a resident of Sector 81, said, “The wall is an obstruction for all residents of new sectors who commute to work for their livelihood.”

MCEPL officials have strongly objected to bringing down the wall. “How can we allow a second traffic leakage? Already, we are losing Rs10 lakh every day because vehicles are using the Sector 76-77 road (recently opened on the other side of NH-8) to bypass the Kherki Daula toll plaza,” said S Raghuraman, CEO, MCEPL.

On Thursday, a patrolling team of NHAI (Jaipur) was supposed to shut this road — which would have been history repeating itself all too soon, with jersey barriers instead of a wall — but was sent back by residents. “My team tried to close the road but we were stopped by unruly residents who called police to the spot,” said an official from NHAI (Jaipur).

HSVP officials said they weren’t required to take permission from NHAI to make internal roads. “NHAI is master of highways and we are master of our sectors. We made the road and will ensure its connectivity with NH-8. Why should NHAI have a problem?” asked a senior HSVP official. He added the Sector 76-77 road was part of the city’s development plan even before the toll plaza was constructed. “You can’t create problems for so many residents just because the expressway concessionaire will be affected financially,” he said.

Will this realisation bring the wall down? The government certainly can’t afford to sit on the fence any more on this one.