NEW DELHI: The 27.7-km Delhi-Gurgaon access-controlled expressway was finally opened to traffic on Wednesday afternoon with the inauguration of the RTR-Palam flyover, the culmination of a TOI campaign to hand over to people a facility created for them. And the ride will be free till 9pm on Friday when the toll rates come into effect.
Ready since December 31, the flyover was waiting for a VIP opening and the tolling system to be in place, though reasons of safety pertaining to the entire stretch were cited for the delay. Meanwhile, the misery of commuters continued.
People had inaugurated it on January 14, responding to a call by the country's first woman IPS officer, Kiran Bedi, through this newspaper that the cops should themselves remove the concrete barriers. That didn't happen but some people held a symbolic opening, sending out a message to politicians. This novel form of protest caught the imagination of people living in Gurgaon and elsewhere and found an echo even in Noida, where people inaugurated a flyover that had been lying ready for a long time. The pressure thus building up led to the opening of the flyover and the entire expressway on Wednesday.
VIPs turned up in force for the opening. Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit preferred to describe it as "the first official inauguration" which was done by Union minister for road transport and highways T R Baalu and Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda besides Dikshit. The others present were minister of state for defence production, Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state for road transport, K H Muniyappa, and Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar.
Asked why the inauguration had been delayed, Baalu said certain work had not been completed on the stretch by December-end. "Before opening the stretch, we needed to ensure everything was in place and safety issues were addressed. Our department secretary and other officials visited the corridor, including the flyover, on Tuesday and gave us a satisfactory report. We hope people enjoy the ride," the minister added. He denied that non-availability of VIPs was ever an issue.
Significantly, when the National Highways Authority of India chairman N Gokulram was asked whether concern for safety was the reason for the delay in the opening of the flyover, he said that "certain work had not been completed on the entire stretch and safety issues had to be addressed. Now the project has got a completion certificate and a commercial operation date from the independent consultant. It's up to the concessionaire now to start charging toll tax whenever he wishes."
Ready since December 31, the flyover was waiting for a VIP opening and the tolling system to be in place, though reasons of safety pertaining to the entire stretch were cited for the delay. Meanwhile, the misery of commuters continued.
People had inaugurated it on January 14, responding to a call by the country's first woman IPS officer, Kiran Bedi, through this newspaper that the cops should themselves remove the concrete barriers. That didn't happen but some people held a symbolic opening, sending out a message to politicians. This novel form of protest caught the imagination of people living in Gurgaon and elsewhere and found an echo even in Noida, where people inaugurated a flyover that had been lying ready for a long time. The pressure thus building up led to the opening of the flyover and the entire expressway on Wednesday.
VIPs turned up in force for the opening. Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit preferred to describe it as "the first official inauguration" which was done by Union minister for road transport and highways T R Baalu and Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda besides Dikshit. The others present were minister of state for defence production, Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state for road transport, K H Muniyappa, and Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar.
Asked why the inauguration had been delayed, Baalu said certain work had not been completed on the stretch by December-end. "Before opening the stretch, we needed to ensure everything was in place and safety issues were addressed. Our department secretary and other officials visited the corridor, including the flyover, on Tuesday and gave us a satisfactory report. We hope people enjoy the ride," the minister added. He denied that non-availability of VIPs was ever an issue.
Significantly, when the National Highways Authority of India chairman N Gokulram was asked whether concern for safety was the reason for the delay in the opening of the flyover, he said that "certain work had not been completed on the entire stretch and safety issues had to be addressed. Now the project has got a completion certificate and a commercial operation date from the independent consultant. It's up to the concessionaire now to start charging toll tax whenever he wishes."
| The route of the NH-8 of which the Delhi to Gurgaon expressway is part. | ||
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| The expressway will provide excellent transport links in the region which is an important business area of India. | |
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