Hours after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inspected the Dwarka Expressway and offered reassurance that the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) would be directed to demolish a wall preventing a direct link between the Expressway and National Highway 48, the structure was demolished late Wednesday evening. HSVP officials confirmed the development on condition of anonymity. Advertising Earlier in the day, Khattar had conducted a “surprise inspection” of the expressway. Speaking to the press later, he said, “There are many traffic snarls here, because of which I think they have closed the NPR (Northern Peripheral Road). We will tell HSVP to open this so the road is opened from here as well, and traffic movement is rectified. This will bring relief to people living along the expressway.” The development comes days after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had responded to HSVP’s request “seeking permission to join the NPR with NH-8 at Kherki Daula”, stating that it “cannot be acceded to”. EXPLAINED Relief for residents The removal of the wall will save both time and money for lakhs of people living along the Haryana stretch of the Dwarka Expressway. With no direct access to NH48 because of the wall, residents had to take a circuitous route to get to Gurgaon — they had to cross Kherki Daula and pay Rs 65 as toll tax to travel one way. NHAI had claimed that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had “already disallowed at-grade connection of NPR and SPR” and directed that NPR and SPR should be “connected seamlessly through an elevated crossing on NH-8 with provision of ramps in such a manner that the traffic would bypass Toll Plaza at Km 42”. “NHAI has already awarded work of construction of cloverleaf to connect NPR and SPR. The work is likely to start on ground very soon,” said the NHAI response. NHAI officials, speaking to The Indian Express on Wednesday, also said that HSVP is yet to clear and hand over a patch of land on which around 1 km of the expressway will fall. The land is the only major roadblock along the Haryana stretch. “Work has started on demolishing the structures. However, it has to be stopped until January 26 because police force is required for security arrangements… Work will resume once the force is available again. We hope to hand over the land by the month-end,” said K C Sharma, consultant with the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), which is overseeing the transfer. Advertising Khattar also said the Kherki Daula toll plaza will be shifted “very soon” — a long-standing demand of residents of new sectors of Gurgaon as well as those living or working in Manesar.

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