After a long wait, the work on the 5.5km-long Badshahpur elevated road project started on Wednesday with the groundbreaking ceremony held at Subash Chowk to mark the beginning of the much-needed expansion of the busy road. A singlelaned dusty road two decades ago, Sohna Road, particularly the stretch between Subash Chowk and Badshahpur, has transformed into one of the most happening office and residential micro-markets in Gurugram.
The Badshahpur Road will be the second-longest elevated road in Haryana after the Panipat Elevated Expressway, which is 10km long. The elevated corridor is part of the 21.6km Sohna Road, which will also be expanded in phases. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to expand this road from four to six lanes (from Rajiv Chowk to Sohna town), and it will construct underpasses and flyovers at crucial intersections. The elevated portion will start at Subash Chowk and culminate at a point after Badshahpur village, thus providing commuters with the option of completely avoiding the busy stretch between Rajiv Chowk and Badshahpur.
Although the work on the project has begun, the state government is still to acquire land in certain areas to complete the expansion.
Over the last decade, thousands of people from across the city as well as Delhi and Faridabad have started using the road to travel to work at numerous IT and other corporate offices that dot this stretch. As a result, heavy traffic jams and congestion have become the bane of the residents in this area.
To solve this issue, the Haryana government conceived the Sohna Road expansion plan. The first phase of the plan, spanning 8.94km, will start from a point beyond Rajiv Chowk, including an underpass at Subash Chowk and an elevated road from there up to a point beyond Badshahpur. The cost of the elevated road has been pegged at ₹707 crore.
Work on the stretch beyond Badshahur has also started, with trees on both sides of the road being cut to facilitate the expansion, officials said.
On Wednesday, the crucial project was inaugurated by Haryana PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh and Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria, BJP MP from Sawai Madhopur.
Oriental Structural Engineers Pvt Ltd has been awarded the contract by the NHAI to build the first phase of the road project. The remaining 12.72km, from Badhshapur to Sohna, is being built by by HG Infrastructure, and will include flyovers and underpasses till Sohna town. The cost of building this section has been pegged at ₹606 crore, officialssaid.
Singh said the project would help reduce congestion and traffic jams on this stretch. “This project will be completed in next 18 months,” he said.
Jaunpuria said: “This road will connect Gurugram with Mumbai via Sohna, Alwar, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur and beyond. It will help greatly.”
Source : HT(11 OCT)
