manoj

NH8 Express Way – Constructed by DS constructions – WHAT IS THE BENEFIT?

HARD FACTS:

• Delay in completion by 3 long years.

• Lacs of cars burnt un-necessary fuel due to traffic jams for 3 years of construction.

• Totally unprofessional management of the Toll.

• Faulty design.

• The incoming lane drivers to the express way are at a great risk due to speeding traffic in the same lane.

• Over 2000+ accidents while this got built.

• Vehicles continue to loose all the more fuel just to pay a meager amount to the express way company, without drawing any benefit whatsoever. Since the people don’t save any time, so the whole purpose of the so called expressway is defeated.

• At a time of global fuel crises, this is a classic example of how precious fuel is being wasted.

• The construction company of this expressway claims to have spent Rs 1000 crores but the people will loose more cash/fuel than that one time cost on an ongoing basis.

• The expressway fails to address what it was initially built for. The stoppage time at the toll gates is still 30-40 minutes or even more during peak times, not to mention the mental agony faced by the drivers while crossing the toll and battling through hundreds of vehicles with drivers changing lanes frequently.

• The drivers do not respect the tag lanes and continue to get into the tag lanes using cash.

• Total mismanagement by DS constructions. Both the entry points of the toll gate from Gurgaon and Delhi are dangerous.

• A mall has come up just after the toll gate and hundreds of cars are parked in the service lane as well as the main highway, as soon as you cross the gate. (Due to wide road space) There is another toll point for trucks after the main toll is crossed and hence the trucks stop again.

• Just after 100 meters after crossing the toll gate on the way to Gurgaon, there is a premium society called Ambience Island with over 300 flats. This society was constructed 7 years back. While constructing the toll way and the service lanes, no review was done of the present traffic that enters this society and how the people living there have to battle through everyday to enter their homes. Drivers entering the Ambience Island Complex have to take all the risk to enter the complex gates with speeding two wheelers from the service lanes.

• Drivers taking U turn to Gurgaon (from Gurgaon) are also under a lot of risk.

• Drivers change lanes at speeds of 120 kms or more.

• There is no traffic police whatsoever.

• No installation of speed cameras or any traffic signs by the construction company.

• A total disregard of the pedestrians with the result that pedestrians are crossing the express way dangerously all the time and getting killed. Nothing has been built for the pedestrians.

• The drivers also face a risk of hitting these pedestrians and meeting an accident and then getting prosecuted.

The govt. of Haryana and Delhi continue to sleep on this critical issue. Well, don't we all know that our govt.'s are already defunct. So lets pray for everyone's safety!.

By the way, despite the poor delivery and managment of this expressway, DS Construction has managed to bag many more projects. Probabaly paid a lot of cash to secure these projects.

manoj

41 Dead on NH-8, Gurgaon Expressway in May-June, 2008

SHAME SHAME SHAME !

One can be a motorist or a pedestrian, but this stretch on NH-8 in Gurgaon spares no one. Be it fatalities, injuries or accidents, one look at the last three-month figures, and one knows that the only way to stay safe is to.

NH8 once again took its ‘toll’. This time right at the toll plaza – crushing 20-year-old lane attendant with a speeding Haryana Roadways bus. Infact, the inviting highway has been a nightmare to commuters and pedestrians alike, particularly from the toll gate to Gurgaon border, Kapadwanj.

Traffic on the superhighway earned its ill-name no sooner it was thrown opened for commuters. But what’s disturbing is the failure of traffic police and state machinery to bring indisciplined pedestrians and motorists under control. Drunken driving, over speeding, wrong-side overtaking, disregarding traffic rules and minor drivers continue to be the key reasons for accidents on NH8.

To add to your uneasiness, we have statistics. If the number of death on NH8in April 2008 was seven, in May 2008 it escalated to a whopping two digit figure – 20!

Sources in the traffic department say, it’s not just the motorists but pedestrians as well are at the vulnerable edge. Justifying sincere initiatives of traffic police DCP Traffic Satender Kumar Gupta said, "To prevent any accident we have increased traffic patrolling on NH8. We are having regular meeting with the National Highway Authority of India. Night patrolling has also been intensified."

THE DCP IS PURELY BULLSHITTING

Commuters too have their share of concern. A commuter says, "I think NH8 is becoming accident prone. Motorists are tempted to drive their vehicles at or more than 90 kmph. There should be some speed check and traffic rules should be made more stringent." Speaking to GP an official from DS Construction said, "We are giving the best possible infrastructure. But it is the unruly commuters who are responsible for increasing number of accident on this stretch."

WHERE ARE THE SPEED CAMERAS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE INSTALLED ?

GURGAON PLUS, 23rd July, 2008

manoj

The Death Stretch - NH8 Gurgaon Delhi Expressway

Speeding on National Highway 8 between Delhi and Jaipur, especially on the Gurgaon stretch, continues unabated, despite the Haryana Police’s claim that it has a firm grip on the situation.

In Gurgaon alone, as many as 244 people have died in accidents since 2003. And 42 people have already been killed so far this year on the stretch. (Suicide Expressway)

Although the speed limits have been set for expressways at 90 kmph and for national highways at 80 kmph, speeding over 100 kmph in Gurgaon is a common occurrence. So much so that teenage bikers have been using the Gurgaon stretch as their personal speed track, speeding to the extent of over 200 kmph. But the police got to know of them only when a biker crashed on to a truck at the South City crossing. (So the Police or the authorities cannot afford to deploy speed cameras and hoardings to warn people of speed limits and that they are being watched. Instead, they promote ETags on these billboards).

Police inactive, ill equipped

Ironically, the traffic wing of the Gurgaon police have not booked even a single over-speeding vehicle since the expressway was opened on February 23. The police have just one speed-gun and an alcohol-meter, which have never been used, while 31 people have died on this stretch since February.

Samir Bajaj, an employee of a multinational IT company in Gurgaon, drives down to his office from his Vasant Kunj residence every day. He said, “I have seen BPO cabs and other vehicles, including buses, drop passengers right in the middle of fast-moving traffic. But I have never seen a policeman or a traffic marshal pull up these vehicles.”

(By the way, how do you define a traffic marshal? He is simply some security guard who is getting a paltry 4000 bucks a month to just be out there with no formal training.)

Pass-on-the-buck game

The police and the corridor management company, DS Constructions (DSC), happily pass the buck on to each other “We have deputed traffic marshals all along the stretch, but commuters and pedestrians hardly pay any heed to traffic instructions. (The promoter of this company should be charged on account of murder; with all these accidents happening due to poor planning and execution of the expressway.)

Since we don’t have policing power, the onus lies with the state police,” said Vandana Dheer, spokesperson for DSC. Dheer said the Haryana police have agreed to set up a post at the Delhi-Gurgaon border toll plaza. “Commuters obey only when instructions come from men in khaki. In 7-8 days, we would have a full-fledged police post under an SHO-rank officer.

We expect the situation to improve,” she added. (YA YA)

SK Gupta, DCP (traffic and crime) of the Gurgaon police, claimed that his department would book any over-speeding vehicle on the expressway. But he could not say how many motorists have so far been booked for rash or negligent driving.

He said, “Accidents happen mostly because of driving errors. We would launch a fresh offensive against over-speeding and drink driving. I have asked both the police stations at the Hero-Honda Chowk and the Bilaspur crossing to get tough.” (It seems that the authorities in every govt. department, be it Police, Municipal dept. or else, don't want to do their job. Kudos to our great governments that want to keep this chaos alive so that we remain troubled in our everday lives and learn to live like loosers. )

Courtesy: HT