A Rs.129 crore bypass widening project on Mathura Road is in limbo.The project is unable to see the light of the
day as the entire stretch has been encroached upon by land mafia and jhuggi-clusters

Politicking has been the bane of Faridabad. Politicians of different hues and colours, playing the game of vote-bank politics, have been hampering the public-oriented development projects. The immediate instance is Rs.129-crore project, sanctioned by the government years ago, for widening the 26-km-long bypass into four-lane from the Badarpur Border to Ballabgarh to decongest the Delhi-Mathura highway by diverting the heavy vehicular traffic to and fro Agra on to this bypass. But the project could not take off as the bypass stretch has been encroached upon by land mafia and jhuggy-clusters, enjoying the protection and patronage of the politicians.

The Delhi-Mathura Highway number two, which passes through this industrial town, is literally bursting at the seams owing to ever burgeoning goods, passenger and tourist traffic. The traffic scenario will further become labyrinthine due to massive tourist flow during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Taking timely cognizance of the unforeseen traffic snarls, the state government formulated a plan to decongest Delhi-Mathura Highway so that the traffic flowed unhindered.

The plan, costing the state exchequer Rs.128.70 crore, already sanctioned, envisaged to widen into 4-lane the 26-km bypass from the Badarpur Border to Ballabgarh, opening and joining the highway at village Kalley. The task of the widening of the bypass, entrusted to the HUDA, was scheduled to be completed before 2010 Commonwealth Games. But the execution of the project has run into rough weather. Here is how and why.

A two-lane bypass already exists. But it has been encroached upon by land mafia and jhuggy dwellers. The HUDA officials tried umpteen times to demolish the jhuggies and clear the road of all encroachments. But every time they had to beat a hasty retreat owing to intervention by the politicians who did not want to displace the jhuggy dwellers, forming a formidable vote-bank. Thus, the project of general public advantage remains at "the sanctioned stage," with hapless and helpless officials only waiting in the wings. Further, the stretch beyond Sector 3 to Sector 65 and onward to village Kalley, is not motorable because of the Railway Line coming in the way. The Haryana chief minister, Bhupinder Hooda, exhibited the urgency, determination and the seriousness of the government about the widening of the bypass, and laid a foundation stone of the railway over-bridge in Sector 65 as far back as 6 months in June last. But the determination and seriousness of the government, qua the chief minister, are yet to be translated into tangible action. The project, now in limbo, is obviously waiting for the Godot to clear the encroachments to enable the administration to take up the construction post-haste.

OFFICIAL SPEAK

When contacted, Brijinder Singh, deputy commissioner, Faridabad, reiterated the resolve of the government about the widening and construction of the bypass in time. He informed that the government had sanctioned a Rs.64.23 crore scheme, named "ASHIANA," to construct 3,248 houses (1968 houses entailing an expenditure of Rs.38.96 crore in Dabua Colony, and 1,280 houses costing Rs.25.27 crore in Bapu Nagar) for the weaker sections/ jhuggy dwellers. The construction of the houses is advancing apace, and is slated to be completed by March 2009. As soon as the bypass jhuggy-dwellers shift to those houses, the work to widen the bypass road will start.

In yet another salubrious development K.K. Jalan, commissioner and secretary, National Highway / PWD, Haryana, informed this correspondent that over Rs.1,500-crore project to widen the Delhi-Mathura Highway 2 to six-lane, had already been cleared. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has already floated tender for the BOT project. The project envisages construction of several flyovers and underpasses including flyovers at NHPC Chowk, Badkhal crossing, Old Faridabad Chowk, Ajronda Mor, HUDA Chowk and Bata Mor to ensure uninterrupted flow of traffic on the Highway. Jalan further added that all the main crossings would be done away with so that the traffic coming from the arterial roads did not mingle with the 6-lane access control highway. Jalan informed that the NHAI would also construct a service lane all along the National Highway 2 up to Hodal for the slow-moving traffic, such as cyclists, bullock carts, autos, etc. This will further improve the traffic movement and minimize the road accidents, he said.

On the other hand, DC Brijinder Singh pointed out that the chief secretary of Haryana had directed the MCF Faridabad, to construct the 15-km service road along the eastern side of the Mathura road from Badarpur to Ballabgarh. A sum of Rs.52 lakh has already been sanctioned for this work. He opined that the widening of the bypass and the Delhi-Mathura Highway and the construction of the service road will certainly decongest Delhi-Mathura road, and will accelerate the traffic flow, obviating the traffic snarls.

But there is a snag. The service lane from Badarpur Border to Ballabgarh, has also been encroached upon at several places. And at some places it does not exist as it has been usurped by factories. N.K. Katara, chief engineer, MCF said that the service lane wherever it existed was being carpeted / repaired. Unless the service lane was cleared of all encroachments, it would not become a straight unhindered pathway for the slow moving traffic.

Public Speak

Dharam Pal Bhadana, a senior advocate and a former president of RWA, Sector 14, said that it was high time the politicians abandoned the vote-bank politics and assisted the administration in the execution of development schemes. He said that earlier too the jhuggy-dwellers were provided housing sites/ houses, but in most of the cases they sold them out, and once again came to live in jhuggies. The government needs to devise some permanent policy to get rid of the encroachment problem, the bane of this industrial town, once for all, he suggested.

On the other hand, R.K. Gupta, chief manager of a bank and a daily commuter said that the four-lane bypass road and 6-lane national highway would not only speed up the vehicular traffic, but would also cut the travel time by half from Faridabad to NOIDA/ North Delhi, as also to and fro Agra.

C.D. Verma
Dec 20,2008