Facing the Delhi traffic heat on Sunday evening, second time in recent times, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to examine and “demolish” the bottlenecks due to several banquets and farmhouses on the Mahipalpur stretch.
Gadkari was caught in the traffic mess on National Highway-8 (NH-8) for an hour on way to Gurugram to attend a wedding. The Minister was caught in traffic jam on the Rajokari flyover on NH-8 same time in December 2015 when he was returning from a social function and it took him over two hours to reach Delhi.
The Mahipalpur-Rajokri stretch on NH-8 is dotted with wedding halls. The traffic situation on carriageways and NH-8 is chaotic during the peak wedding seasons.
“I have directed the NHAI to conduct a survey of the Mahipalpur stretch and assess the bottlenecks areas which leads to frequent traffic jams. We have found that some farmhouses or banquets, which lease or rent their premises for weddings or celebrations, have encroached upon the NH. If found guilty, they have to be demolished, I have directed so,” Gadkari told The Pioneer.
Gadkari said during the wedding seasons, the problem is more acute and general commuters get stuck in traffic for hours.
He said he has also asked the road research institutes to carry out the study on traffic jams and accident-prone areas in other parts of national Capital. He rued the fact that the cascading effect of this jam also clogs the Sardar Patel Marg (SP Marg). The work to make the entire stretch from Mother Teresa Crescent up to the starting point of Gurugram expressway signal-free has started, he said.
Earlier after experiencing long traffic jam on NH-24, Gadkari had pushed a proposal to widen the stretch between Delhi and Dasna to 14 lanes.
While work on Delhi NH-24 stretch is likely to be commissioned by January 2018-end, Gadkari laid the foundation stone of the Rs 270-crore project in August this year to make the stretch between Dhaula Kuan and IGI Airport signal-free. The project will be completed by 2019.
Talking about the phase II of the Urban Road Extension Plan of Delhi Gadkari said that the extra costs in these projects has to be borne in 50:50 ratio by the Central road making agency and Delhi Development Authority (DDA).