nigel

Who's responsible for Gurgaon's Sahraul road?

When it comes to getting roads repaired, even the status of millennium city doesn't help.

The Sahraul Road in Gurgaon houses offices of multinationals like Siemens, Pearl Pet, Agilent Technologies, Tupperware, HCL, Lumax, Orient Craft and Munjal Showa but remains a nightmare for motorists. And even as commuters and corporate honchos brave the potholes everyday, the Haryana civic agencies responsible for upkeep of roads in the city are shirking responsibility.

After HT ran its series 'Gurgaon Collapsing' that highlighted the infrastructure-related issues of the satellite city, Haryana Government promised to repair all its roads and launched Rs 30-crore project for the same. The 2.5-km-long Sahraul Road, which connects the Gurgaon Expressway with the Old Delhi Road, seems to have got nothing of it.

Nightmare continues

"Just 180 metres of the total 2.5-km-long road is now in motorable condition. The entire stretch is full of potholes. Foreign dignitaries and honchos from across the world visit the factories and offices situated on this road regularly and have to use this road," said NS Grewal, director with Orient Craft Exports House.

He said officials responsible have been contacted in Gurgaon and in Chandigarh repeatedly but all the departments have refused responsibility of the road. "Our worry is the rainy season that is knocking at the doors. Sahraul Road will turn into a number of ponds," said a senior executive of a well-known company requesting anonymity.

Passing the buck

Haryana State Infrastructure & Industrial Development Corporation (HSIIDC) General Manager Hamvir Singh said Sector 18 was an industrial estate belonging to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and, therefore, not under their jurisdiction.

"The industrialists had approached me and I clarified to them that the road was neither constructed by our department nor did we maintain it. Our department cannot touch this road," he said. HUDA Superintending Engineer Punkaj Kumra said like many Public Works Department roads, such as the Mehrauli Road, Old Delhi Road and Bajghera Road, Sahraul Road too was not transferred to the HUDA and was not their responsibility.

"The road belongs to the PWD. A cess charge of Re 1 on Petrol goes to the PWD for road maintenance. The PWD now has enough funds and should maintain the road," he said.

The PWD officials have their own story to tell. Superintending Engineer RS Yadav said Sahraul Road did not exist in the revenue records. "Our department never constructed this road. We cannot allocate budget to maintain or re-carpet it," he said.

Yadav said both HSIIDC and HUDA officials had approached the PWD for the road and they were told that the PWD has no budget for it. "If the state allocates us budget for this road, we would take care of it," he said.

The industrialists approached a minister who refused to help reportedly stating his limitations because of the election code of conduct.

HT, Apr 05, 2009