Gurgaon: Lack of transport isolates newly built sectors

A number of families have moved into the highrise apartments developed recently along the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and Northern Peripheral Road (NPR), also called Dwarka Expressway, under Master Plan 2031.

However, due to lack of public transport, these residents have to depend on cars to commute. Private developers have made available a 24-hour cab service, but residents in these newly-developed sectors still suffer from lack of public transport.

“I shifted to this part of the city a few months ago after getting possession of my flat. However, later I discovered that commuting from this place is a difficult task. Only people who have their own cars are able to commute to the main city,” said Vivek Ved, a resident of Tulip White in Sector 69.

His story is similar to that of a number of residents of Sector 69 and 70, both close to SPR. The Sector 69 road is 4km away from Sohna Road, which connects to Rajiv Chowk.

In Sector 109 too, the developer has provided shuttle services, while many families from these areas have moved to Sector 81 along Northern Peripheral Road. The sector is around 2.5 km from New Palam Vihar road.

Another Sector 69 resident, Komal Mehta, said, “Although most residents have their own cars, in case of an emergency, the builder provides us with a cab service. We also have the shuttle taxi service.”

While the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has provided repeated assurance to residents that it will soon start government buses on all routes, residents still have to depend on the transport provided by private developers or their vehicles.

Sectors 69 and 70 have schools, apartments and a small market place, but there is a complete absence of Haryana Roadways services and city buses. There are shared autos, but women find them unsafe as most of them are overcrowded and drivers seldom follow rules. They also charge exorbitant fares to travel to this part of the city.

The Haryana Roadways runs 70 city buses in Sectors 1-57, but not a single one for Sectors 58-115 where 60,000 apartments are coming up. The department doesn’t have any immediate plans for new townships either. “We don’t have any routes in the new sectors yet, but we will be planning for them soon,” said Trilok Chand, general manager, Haryana Roadways, Gurgaon.

MCG too has its long-term plans of launching 500 buses under the public-private-partnership (PPP) model, but not immediately. “At present, our focus is mainly on improving the transportation system by introducing new buses. After that, we will reach out the people gradually across the city with proper planning,” said Vikas Gupta, commissioner, MCG.