The opening ceremony of the expressway with PM Modi is expected to occur in the near future, however, the exact date will be decided later.
Gurugram: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Gurugram administration have started preparations for the opening ceremony of the Gurugram segment of the Dwarka expressway, which is scheduled for March. In the lead-up to the ceremony, teams made up of officials from the Gurugram administration and police toured the Dwarka expressway on Thursday to begin the logistics preparations and evaluate the security requirements of the inauguration.
On Thursday, Gurugram vice-commissioner Nishant Yadav said there was no date for the exact date to have been set yet, but it will be completed soon. “We went to the site today to observe the progress of preparations,” he said.
An experienced Gurugram police official who was aware of the issue stated that teams headed by deputy chief Nishant Yadav and city police Chief Vikas Arora toured the expressway in order to get a sense of the current situation. “The teams from the administration as well as police and NHAI were on the expressway to determine possible places for the inauguration and to plan the building of an interim helipad and parking spaces for the rally, if it will be held. We are currently preparing for the opening ceremony, however, it is not clear when the event will take place. It has yet to be confirmed,” said the official who participated in the survey.
NHAI officials confirmed on Thursday the news and confirmed that the official opening of the expressway with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to be imminent, but the exact date will be announced soon.
The senior NHAI official told the media, “We have received directions that Prime Secretary Narendra Modi will officially open the Gurugram section of the Dwarka expressway. The date for the event will likely to be announced shortly, but we are prepared.”
Dwarka expressway is under construction at a cost of around Rs 9000 crore. It is constructed in four different packages. Package three (Delhi-Gurugram border to Basai ROB) and package four (Basai ROB to the NH-48) are located in Gurugram and measure 19 km in length. Packages one (Mahipalpur to Dwarka Sector 21) and two (Dwarka Sector 21 from the border between Delhi and Gurugram) are located in Delhi and are approximately 10 km in length.
The highway authority also stated they had sent out crews to clean the expressway, put up tri-color lighting on poles, paint the pedestrian walkways, and repair signage. “The Gurugram section of the expressway is scheduled to be opened to traffic, however, I’m not aware of any possible connection with Delhi because the toll plaza that is located near Chauma village is not operational at the moment. The decision to open the Delhi section is not yet communicated to us since it is in the process of being constructed,” said the senior NHAI official.
According to a senior official from the highway contractor who is responsible for packages 1 and 2 in Delhi, approximately 90% of the work is already finished on the Delhi section, and connectivity to Haryana and Delhi has been established. “A group composed of officials from NHAI and PMO was on the expressway for a review of the project on a Saturday prior to the official opening, and we took their vehicles on a journey from Gurugram up to Sector 23 through the expressway. The road will be used by commuters traveling between Gurugram to Dwarka in Delhi when it opens for traffic. However, this decision will be handled by NHAI,” he said.