Faridabad Road to get street lights after seven years

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has issued a work order for installing 740 street lights on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, said MCG officials on Thursday.

Although the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road is one of the most important stretches in the city that not only connects Gurugram and Faridabad but also provides connectivity to several parts of South Delhi, it is infamous for having dark stretches that lead to accidents and incidents of crime, said residents.

In July 2012, the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road was widened from two to four lanes. However, while doing so the authorities had removed the street lights along the stretch that have not been replaced so far.

As per MCG officials, the street lights will be installed on both sides of an 11.1 km stretch between Khushboo Chowk and Gurgaon-Faridabad toll plaza with both the terminal ends of the stretch falling within Gurugram.

“During the MCG’s last finance and contract committee (F&CC) meeting in January, the tender for installing street lights on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road was approved by councillors and officials. Last week, a work tender was allotted to a private contractor. However, on-ground work will start only after elections are over, as the model code of conduct for 2019 general elections is currently in place,” said Lalit Jindal, executive engineer of the MCG.

While Jindal did not disclose the exact cost of the project, it is likely to cost ₹1-4 crore, the price slab till which the F&CC is empowered to approve projects.

MCG officials also said that the remaining 14km of the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road will not be covered under this project, as it does not fall under their jurisdiction.

For residents, the development marks an end to a nearly 7-year period of wait.“I have been approaching authorities for street lights ever since the stretch was expanded to four lanes in 2012. Most of the 11.1 km stretch is covered by the Aravallis, and there are only a handful of villages and residential areas in between. There are many points where the road gets extremely deserted and, without lack of street lights, there are chances of accidents and crimes,” said Abhijeet Ganguly, a resident of DLF Phase- 1.

Lack of streetlights has resulted in the 11.1 km stretch witnessing frequent accidents. On January 13, 2019, an SUV crashed into two sedans, a mini truck, and another SUV on the road near Gwal Pahari. Three people were injured in the accident. On December 10, 2018, a 24-year-old woman died and three others sustained minor injuries after an SUV crashed into their hatchback on the road.

Traffic police had identified the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road as one of the dangerous stretches in the city where poor visibility was leading to crimes and accidents. In October 2013, they had written to both the MCG and the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran to install street lights on the stretch on an immediate basis.