The 21-km road project is aimed at reducing the travelling time between Alwar in Rajasthan and Gurugram to under two hours by providing signal-free travel through the traffic-prone zone between Rajiv Chowk and Sohna.
In the first step towards the construction of the ₹1,300-crore Sohna elevated road, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) demolished 50 structures in Badshahpur village on Tuesday under heavy police protection. No violence or disruption was reported during the drive.
The 21-km road project is aimed at reducing the travelling time between Alwar in Rajasthan and Gurugram to under two hours by providing signal-free travel through the traffic-prone zone between Rajiv Chowk and Sohna.
According to Ashok Sharma, project director of NHAI, a total of more than 200 illegal structures will be razed in Badshahpur in nine phases, of which the first 50 were razed on Tuesday to facilitate the construction of a 5-km-long flyover between Subhash Chowk and Iskcon temple in Badshahpur.
“The drive is divided into nine phases. The first phase was completed today, in which 50 unauthorised properties were demolished with the help of earth movers. Essentially, we removed encroachments to reclaim the public land and facilitate construction,” said Sharma.
The drive started around 6am and lasted till 9.30am. More than 50 police officials including women constables provided protection to the NHAI’s enforcement team.
More than 90% of the structures demolished were commercial establishments, said NHAI officials.
“We intentionally started the drive during early morning hours to ensure there are minimal chances of disruption as most shopkeepers would not be present. Some shopkeepers started protesting at the last hour of the drive, as information of the demolition started spreading. However, the police officials immediately intervened and the drive was completed without any hindrance. We will be carrying out our next drive on Saturday and have informed shopkeepers to remove their belongings before it,” said an NHAI official, privy to the matter.
Bharat Bhushan Jindal, former technical manager of NHAI, who recently retired, said that the authority had issued 202 notices to the encroachers in February, directing them to remove their belongings before the demolition drive.
“We had observed that in Badshahpur, more than 15 metres of public land had been illegally encroached upon. Since, this much space would allow us to start construction on the elevated project, hence, a decision on carrying out demolition drive was agreed upon. Once all the phases have carried out in Badshahpur, the NHAI will move to Islampur village. This will help the authority to expand the existing carriageway from three to six lanes,” said Jindal.
The NHAI is constructing the elevated project in two phases.
The first phase will see the revamp of a 9-km stretch between Rajiv Chowk and Badshahpur village at a total cost of ₹700 crore.
Apart from a flyover, an underpass at Subhash Chowk will also be constructed.
In the second phase of the project between Badshapur and Sohna, a 12-km stretch will be elevated that is expected to cost around ₹600 crore, said officials involved in the project.
Source : HT
