Gurgaon’s internal roads and lanes, which fall under the ambit of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), may soon have facilities for pedestrians and non-motorised transport (NMT), with the civic body looking to give “minimum space” to each group within this year. This was announced by MCG Commissioner Yashpal Yadav at an event ‘The Roads of Gurugram,’ at MDI Gurgaon Friday. Advertising “Motorised traffic takes maximum space on the roads. We leave no space for NMT and pedestrians. The MCD has decided to fix the Right of Way (ROW), and finalised a cross-section of each road and lane, giving minimum space available to each group. We will implement it within this year,” said Yadav. The Commissioner criticised the “lopsided investment” done in the area, mentioning the upscale Golf Course Road as an example.“As an administrator, I see Golf Course Road. Over Rs 500 crore was spent on upgrading only one road. Roads of three clusters could have been made from Rs 500 crore. Do we really need to spend so much on roads and underpasses?” said Yadav. The Commissioner also touched upon the issues of land acquisition, litigation, and compensation enhancement. He spoke of the need for greater planning and research in the context of External Development Charges (EDC) and the development of cities. Advertising “EDC is paid by builders, in lieu of the external development done by government agencies. HSVP invested, and is yet to recover more than Rs 15,000 crore in Gurgaon alone. We made such a resourceful agency poor because we had to buy the roads for Gurgaon, and these roads are still not complete. Road-laying is still underway, which GMDA will complete,” said Yadav. “There is a need for more planning and research. The 115 sectors we were supposed to settle by 2031, were settled within 2018, and we started giving licences in 2010 and 2011. The demands we were supposed to fulfill in 2031 have come up in 2018. This puts a lot of pressure on government resources,” he said, adding: “So many roads have already been built. If we clear all those, there will be enough space for pedestrians, non-motorised transport…”

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