The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued a final notice to the contractor responsible for renovating a 28-kilometer stretch of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, warning that the contractor may be replaced if substantial progress is not achieved by June 30.
Project Details and Current Status
The Rs 165-crore project, awarded in November last year with a two-year completion timeline, covers the entire corridor from Rao Tula Ram Marg in Delhi to Kherki Daula in Gurgaon. Of the 28 kilometers, 10 kilometers fall in Delhi and 18 kilometers in Gurgaon. However, after eight months, only about 25 percent of the work has been completed.
The renovation includes resurfacing of service roads, improvement of approaches to structures, installation of crash barriers, road marking, rectifying engineering deficiencies at accident-prone locations, upgrading street lighting to a minimum intensity of 40 lux, and replacing damaged metal beam barriers with concrete jersey crash barriers.
Significance of the Expressway
This is the first major upgrade of the expressway since it opened in 2008. Part of NH-48, the Delhi-Jaipur highway, the corridor is among the busiest inter-city stretches in the country, with conservative estimates putting daily traffic at nearly three lakh passenger car units — more than double its designed capacity.
Progress and Challenges
While some recarpeting of service roads has been undertaken on the Delhi stretch, progress in Gurgaon has been limited to a few sections near Rajiv Chowk, Signature Towers and Narsingpur. A senior NHAI official stated, "The contractor has been given a final notice and directed to show substantial progress by June 30. The work will be reviewed again in the first week of July. If we find that the pace of work remains unsatisfactory, we will initiate action under the risk-and-cost clause and engage another agency to complete the remaining work."
Commuters fear the monsoon will stall progress further. Navdeep Singh, a Sector 83 resident who commutes daily on the expressway, said, "Construction of the service road at Narsingpur has started, but the progress has been painfully slow, resulting in traffic snarls almost every day. Work on the other side has not even started. Unauthorised access to the main carriageway further adds to the traffic woes. With the monsoon just a couple of weeks away, the work may come to a halt again, prolonging our difficulties. Crash barriers have been damaged at several places, posing a serious safety risk. Even streetlights are non-functional along some portions."
Conclusion
NHAI's final notice underscores the urgency to accelerate the renovation work, with commuters anxiously awaiting improvements to ease daily traffic congestion and enhance safety.
