Year on, pollution curbs halt Faridabad flyover repair work

jendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, December 25

The Badkhal flyover connecting national highway (Mathura road) and Sector-21 and the Surajkund area in the city has been lying damaged for about a year.

The repair of this road used by a large number of commuters daily is yet to be taken up despite the announcement made by the authorities concerned two months ago.

The potholed road is a cause of inconvenience to hundreds of vehicles. The repairs have not been undertaken despite a part of the area being selected in the ongoing Smart City project worth Rs 3,000 crore, according to sources in the district administration.

“Movement on the flyover has become risky and accident-prone due to sudden use of brakes and deviation of vehicles attempting to escape the potholes,” said Devender Singh, a retired government official residing in Sector 21C.

Claiming that the matter of damaged roads, including the flyover, has been taken up several times with the local MLA, MP and civic authorities, he said the issue remains unattended.

“Though Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, (MC) had announced to repair all the roads by November-end, the situation remains grim as several important roads in the city have been lying damaged, posing a threat to the safety of commuters,” said SK Sharma, coordinator, Road Safety Organisation (RSO), an NGO involved in road safety work.

Describing the delay due to the lack of coordination, efficiency and direction, sources in the district administration claim that despite handing over several roads to the newly created FMDA (Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority), no work has been started, leaving the residents harassed.

Meanwhile, Yashpal Yadav, Commissioner, MC, said the repair of the Badkhal flyover is to be done by the Faridabad Smart City Limited (FSCL). The deadline of repairing city roads has been missed mainly due to imposition of GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan — for containing pollution) measures according to which construction work has remained banned till recently. Tenders for repairs of some important roads have been released, he added.