3-km traffic jams a routine affair on Gurugram-Faridabad stretch

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, July 11

Even as Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini inaugurated multi-crore projects, including those to upgrade road infrastructure, in Manesar, residents of Gurugram and Faridabad drew his attention to the chaotic situation on the road connecting the two districts.

They took to social media, asking the CM to drive through the road in the morning or evening as a part of his programme to realise their plight.

Frequented by thousands of commuters, this stretch of road has emerged as one of the most congested ones in the last two months. The road is witnessing up to 3-km-long traffic jams almost each day.

Lack of Fastag, parked garbage vehicles causing congestion

The authorities are talking about advancing to GIS-enabled sensory toll collection system, but they have not been able to implement FASTag system here so far. — Surender Singh, Faridabad citizen charter

Initially, three cars could travel alongside each other on this road, but now cars have to cross one by one in the area near the Bandhwari landfill. Besides, garbage often gets spilled on the road, while garbage collection vehicles and machines used at the landfill are parked here throughout the day. —Jitender Bhadana, Save Aravali Trust

The commuters claim that earlier the average waiting time during peak hours never exceeded 40 minutes, but now they are stuck in snarl-ups for as long as 1-1.5 hours each time they try to commute between the two cities.

Residents blame the lack of FASTag facility on the toll plaza and illegally parked machines and vehicles of the Gurugram Municipal Corporation. Besides, waste spilling from these vehicles, which are used for carrying garbage to the Bandhwari landfill, is also causing them a lot of inconvenience.

Surender Singh of Faridabad citizen charter, who commutes daily from his home in Sector 16 to his office in Signature Tower, said: “A person commuting between Gurugram and Faridabad is spending an average of two hours in snarl-ups every day.”

“It’s surprising that the authorities are talking about advancing to GIS-enabled sensory toll collection system for other roads, but they have not been able to implement FASTag system here so far. The queues of vehicles are increasing by the day, owing to the inefficiency of the toll concessionaire here, but nobody wants to take action in this regard,” he added.

Highlighting the problem of illegally parked MC vehicles, Jitender Bhadana of the Save Aravali Trust said, “Initially three cars could travel alongside each other on this road, but now cars have to cross one by one in the area near the Bandhwari landfill.”

“Garbage is often spilled on the road, while machines, used at the landfill site and parked here throughout the day, obstruct the traffic,” rued Bhadana.

Various commuters claimed that a long line of garbage-laden trucks waiting to enter the landfill added to the problem. Bhadana said it was becoming increasingly difficult to pass through this stretch alongside these vehicles with overflowing waste as the stench emanating from the trash is ‘unbearable’.

“There is no spilling of garbage on the road. The work of treating waste is underway at the Bandhwari landfill site. Sometimes, there can be garbage collection vehicles on the road, but it is not a permanent problem. We have undertaken a big project of clearing the Bandhwari landfill, which may cause momentary inconvenience to residents and commuters,” said Gurugram MC Commissioner Narhari Banger.