News: Bajghera road to be widened by October end-20-09-2020

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/bajghera-road-to-be-widened-by-october-end/articleshow/78210836.cms

Bajghera road to be widened by October end

GURUGRAM: The Bajghera road widening project is expected to be completed by the end of October, four months past its deadline. Work on the 3.5km-long stretch is in the final stages and the contractor needs around a month to complete the remaining work, public works department (PWD) officials said.

Under the project, PWD is widening the two-lane road to four lanes. “If everything goes well and the contractor is able to wind up everything soon, the road should be ready by the end of October. Commuters will have a better experience once the stretch is opened to the public,” a PWD official said.

The foundation stone of the project was laid by former PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh in March last year. The revamp was estimated to cost around Rs 22 crore. In August last year, the department allotted the work for the project to a contractor with a June 2020 deadline.

Work had hit a roadblock at the very beginning over shifting of utilities. The nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic also contributed to the delay. Nearly two months were lost due to the lockdown. Thereafter, the contractor struggled with labour shortage.

“We had many hindrances, yet we have tried to complete it as early as we can. Firstly, there were delays due to utility shifting. It was then followed by the National Green Tribunal’s ban on construction work in October last year. After that, work had to be stopped again in March due to the lockdown and the resulting acute shortage of labour,” said an official of RK Jain Infra Projects, the contractor for the project.

“Around three weeks of work is remaining. We shall be able to hand the road over to PWD by the end of October,” the official added.

However, the facelift of a 500m unmetalled stretch on the road — the major pain point for the commuters — will take time as it is part of the Dwarka Expressway. L&T, the contractor for Dwarka Expressway, has proposed to build an underpass there. Work on shifting of utilities is underway and the work on the underpass is expected to commence next month, the contractor said.

“The 500m stretch will be developed along with the underpass that we have planned there. Utility shifting is underway and if all goes as per the schedule, we’ll be able to begin work on the underpass within a month’s time,” said an L&T official.

The Bajghera road is used by many commuters to reach Delhi. Once the project is complete, some of the vehicles travelling from Gurugram to Najafgarh or parts of west and south-west Delhi using the Delhi-Gurugram expressway are expected to take this road, reducing traffic volume on the highway.