Two-month-long sewerage work on Basai Road leaves commuters fuming

GURUGRAM: The ongoing sewage pipe laying work being carried out by MCG on the Basai Road is adding to the woes of commuters as one lane of the stretch has been blocked for traffic for the past two months.
According to the commuters, allowing two-way traffic to ply on a single road increases the chances of accidents and this stretch is used by both heavy and light vehicles. Traffic snarls on this stretch is a regular scenario as drivers do not follow a single-line driving rule hence chocking up the entire stretch.

Naveen Bhardwaj, a resident of Sector 10, said, “It has been two months now that work on the Basai stretch has been going on. MCG has installed jersey barriers at intervals to demarcate a portion of the road where work is going on. Plastic ropes have been tied from one barrier to another to cover up the gap. However, they have not thought that while crossing a vehicle, a commuter might move closer to the gap which might lead to an accident.”

Locals allege that commuters’ safety was not kept in mind while planning the repair work. Hemnat Pal, a resident of Sector 37, said, “Such kind of work should be carried out with proper planning. The least which they could have done is to put proper barriers to avoid traffic chaos. It seems that this road work will take at least two months before it is completed.”

However, there are some residents who are of the view that even after the sewage work is completed, the traffic issue on this stretch will not resolve. “During monsoon, this stretch turns into a puddle. The ongoing work has choked all the drains in the area. Authorities should plan rain water harvesting, else waterlogging will be a major hurdle for the authorities to overcome during the rainy season,” said Aman Chawla, a Sector 92 resident.

With work going on one side of the road, it normally takes commuters half-an-hour to cross this stretch.

When contacted, MCG officials said they are working on the issue and soon both the roads will be operational. “We know that work is going on at this stretch. We will complete the work soon and then both sides of the road will be thrown open to commuters,” said a senior MCG official.

Meanwhile, Gurugram traffic police have put their personnel on this road to ensure smooth flow of traffic. “We are sending regular advisories to the commuters about the traffic scenario on this stretch so that they could avoid using this road,” a traffic police officer said.