Haryana, DDA officials meet to expedite Dwarka e-way

Senior officials of the Haryana government and Delhi Development Authority held a meeting in the national capital last week to expedite the land acquisition process for the remaining portion of the Northern Peripheral Road, commonly known as Dwarka expressway.

According to officials, a 1.8km stretch of unacquired land near Dwarka is causing a roadblock for the project. The total required land is 25 acres. According to sources, the landowners are demanding Rs 40 crore per acre. Officials, however, say raising another Rs 1,000 crore is nearly impossible.

“We held a meeting with DDA officials and have come to know that the acquisition process is being handled by the public works department (buildings and roads) branch. We had asked the DDA to provide 150-metre-wide road to connect Gurgaon and Dwarka, but they have said they will be able to provide only 80-metre-wide road,” said a senior state government official.

Since other departments are involved in this matter, the Haryana government has sought a meeting with the Delhi chief secretary at the earliest to sort out this matter. “We want the land acquisition matter to be sorted out at the earliest. This 1.8km stretch is what is holding up things. We are planning to meet the Delhi chief secretary and all departments concerned so that work can be started soon,” he said.

In the proposed meeting, the authorities will also discuss the compensation amount that will have to be paid to the landowners.

Tens of real estate projects are yet to see the light of day because the expressway has been delayed by seven years. This 18km stretch of 150m-wide road is supposed to provide a congestion-free ride between Delhi, Gurgaon and Manesar.

In May, the Punjab and Haryana high court dismissed the last bunch of pending writ petitions, paving the way for speedy construction of the road. The litigation had held up investment of about Rs 50,000 crore by property buyers. The road is expected to reduce the travel time between West Delhi and Gurgaon by 40% as one will be able to skip a portion of NH-8. The road will connect with NH-8 straight at IFFCO Chowk, where plans are to construct a bypass through Pataudi Road.

More than 42,000 housing units are in various stages of construction around the expressway. Of these, nearly 35% are in the luxury segment, according to realtors. Though the court has cleared the litigational hurdle, realtors say the link road in Delhi’s jurisdiction may take another year to come up.

source: economictimes