News: Haryana Roadways seeks government land near Dwarka Expressway for a new bus stand-14-03-2021
Haryana Roadways seeks government land near Dwarka Expressway for a new bus stand
GURUGRAM: The Haryana Roadways has proposed to build a new inter-state bus stand in Siri near the Dwarka Expressway for the residents of new sectors in the city. The department has sent a proposal to the government, demanding allotment of around 15 acres of land which is now in HSIIDC’s possession.
Once built, the bus stand will bring the much-needed relief to the residents as the current depot near Mahavir Chowk in old Gurugram is housed in a dilapidated building. There’s no waiting area for passengers, forcing them to find alternatives in the open or nearby food stalls. The pillars of the corridors look visibly frail and in many places, chunks of concrete are eroded.
The administrative block of the building also lacks enough rooms for the staff. Moreover, the movement of buses from the old Gurugram bus stand leads to chronic jams, and shifting the base near the Dwarka Expressway will also ease the traffic flow, officials said.
Haryana Roadways Gurugram depot general manager Kulbir Singh Dhaka told TOI, “HSIIDC has over 100 acres of land meant for public utility purposes. We want around 15 acres of land from that to build a new bus stand. The district population and ridership have increased but we don’t have enough resources to accommodate that.”
Roadways employees say they have been demanding a new bus stand for years. “The existing building in old Gurugram is useless now. For several years, we have been demanding for a new building but the government is yet to take our demands seriously. Even renovating this building won’t work as the bus stand was built in 1959 and at that time this area wasn’t as crowded,” said a Roadways employee.
In 2015, the public works department declared the city’s sole bus stand as structurally unsafe after conducting a safety audit. In 2018, the state government announced that a new bus stand would be built on a public-private partnership model. Three years on, nothing has moved on the ground.
The roadways department had initially identified land at Rajiv Chowk for a new bus stand. But, the proposal couldn’t move ahead as a portion of the land had to be kept for the proposed metro station there. The department, however, is hopeful about the new proposal. It has asserted that the new location is favourable as it will be very close to the Dwarka Expressway and Southern Peripheral Road (SPR), ensuring easy accessibility for the passengers. “Once our proposal gets a nod from the government, we’ll prepare a detailed project report,” Kulbir Singh said.
