Gurugram: 18-month timeline to build Dwarka e-way service roads

GURUGRAM: With the construction of the Gurugram stretch of the Dwarka Expressway nearing completion, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will now build service roads and utilities like a sewerage system on either side of the high-speed corridor at a cost of nearly Rs 120 crore.
Thousands of families residing in the newly developed sectors in the city — 81 to 115 — are to benefit from the construction of the service roads as they will get easy access to the main carriageway of the Dwarka Expressway.
According to officials, the land required for the construction of the service roads along the Dwarka Expressway is already available with the GMDA. The authority will utilise around 7.5 metres of land on both sides of the expressway, out of which the service roads would be 5.5-metre wide while the remaining 2 metres will be used for other utilities like sewerage.
Executive engineer of GMDA, Shweta Sharma, said, “We have received administrative approval for the construction of the service roads along the Dwarka Expressway. The tender will be issued in a week's time, and we are hoping to complete the tender process in a month's time.” According to the GMDA's engineering cell, the construction of the service roads is expected to be completed in 18 months from the date of issuing the work order.
Residents have welcomed the GMDA’s move. “The Dwarka Expressway would have been incomplete without the service roads. The construction of the service roads will also prevent unauthorised development along the expressway,” Pradeep Mishra, a resident, told TOI.
The expressway was supposed to be constructed by HSVP but due to delay and several obstacles, the project was taken over by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at the request of the Haryana government.
The Dwarka Expressway, announced in 2007, has been conceptualised as a northern ring road between Shiv Murti on NH-8 in Delhi and Kherki Daula in Gurugram. While 18.9 km of the expressway will be in Gurugram, 10.1 km will be in Delhi.
It will open to commuters in stages. The Gurugram section is expected to be fully operational from early 2023. Currently, some sections of the expressway are in use. The cloverleaf connecting the expressway to Delhi-Jaipur highway and SPR is likely to be ready by the end of the year.
Work on the Gurugram section started in November 2019. But it has been repeatedly delayed, with officials blaming suspension of construction due to delays in shifting utilities, land litigation, the pandemic, and construction bans amid high pollution levels.