News: Over 350 potholes on Golf Course Extension Road make life difficult for commuters-07-09-2020
https://www.hindustantimes.com/gurugram/over-350-potholes-on-golf-course-extension-road-make-life-difficult-for-commuters/story-jTzKUBz5RFbO82uJHiv71H.html
A 6km stretch of Golf Course Extension Road (GCER) — between Vatika Chowk and Faridabad Road — is riddled with at least 350 potholes, making this stretch risky for commuters and motorists, said the police.
At least, six accidents have been reported on this stretch in the last two days. Two people were severely injured, after a motorcyclist lost control of his vehicle and rammed a jersey barrier on Saturday night, said police officials.
According to police officials, this year 14 accidents have been reported so far on this stretch. In 2019, 46 accidents were reported. Most accidents involve two wheelers, said the police, adding that four people have died so far this year on the GECR. In 2019, a total of 16 people died, while in 2018, 14 fatalities were recorded.
Commuters allege that the stretch is particularly unsafe for two-wheelers and is in the urgent need of repair. The traffic volume on the road is also high as many residential societies, corporate offices and high-end automobile showrooms are located on this stretch. A large number of commuters from Delhi and Faridabad also use this road to reach Sohna Road and other parts of the city.
The road also has several junctions with traffic merging from various directions, such as sectors 56, 57, 49, 50, 51 and 61 and Gurugram-Faridabad Road.Commuters allege that, during peak hours, it takes around 20 minutes to cross the stretch due to the presence of the potholes.
The road also serves as an important link for commuters travelling towards Delhi and Faridabad from the Golf Course Extension Road, the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and Sohna Road.
Commuters say this stretch provides an easier access to Faridabad, Golf Course Road, MG Road, DLF Phase-1, Sector 54, Aya Nagar and Chattarpur in Delhi, and helps them to bypass other congested stretches of the city such as the Mehrauli-Gurugram (MG) Road and the Golf Course Road.
According to safety experts, the presence of potholes, some of which are as large as three or four feet, coupled with lack of streetlights have added to the unsafety of the stretch.
Sarika Panda Bhatt, a city-based road safety expert, said, “Cities are focused on building more roads but maintaining the infrastructure of the existing roads should be the first priority. This is because inadequate maintenance often results in jeopardising the safety and security of road users. This is the exactly what the issue in Golf Course Extension Road is. Potholes and blind spots are leading to frequent accidents.”
“This stretch houses some of the most high-end liquor stores, along with the swanky drinking places, called ahataas. It is risky to drive at night as the stretch is full of potholes and requires immediate repair,” said Nitin Sirohi, a senior MNC executive and a resident of Emaar Palm Drive.
According to the police, most of the commuters drive at high speeds during the night, which often leads to accidents when motorists lose control of their vehicles. “Mostly, bikers suffer accidents as the potholes are not visible from a distance. Only daily commuters are aware of it,” said Aman Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar).
“We have asked the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) officials to repair the road as soon as possible. We have also deployed six constables on each side of the stretch, apart from the night patrolling team,” Yadav said.
Commenting on the condition of the stretch, Aman Yadav , ACP, said the police had temporarily repaired the bigger potholes during water logging in August to evade accidents. “There are nearly 350 potholes on both sides of the stretch of various sizes. Some of them are dangerous and need urgent repair”, he said
When asked about the issue, GMDA officials said the repair work has slowed down because of the arrival of the monsoon season. However, they are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of commuters. The officials added that repair work will restart from Monday.
GMDA is also working towards relaying the entire stretch of the road entirely. However, until then, it is carrying out temporary repair work, said officials.
Jitender Mittal, executive engineer of GMDA, said that have allocated a tender of ₹40 lakh for repairing the potholes permanently. “Presently we are repairing potholes temporarily but due to heavy rainfall, the road gets damaged time and again.Starting Monday, we will repair all the existing potholes to ensure that commuters do not suffer while travelling on the stretch,” he
When asked about the issue, GMDA officials said the repair work has slowed down because of the arrival of the monsoon season. However, they are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of commuters. The officials added that repair work will restart from Monday.
GMDA is also working towards relaying the entire stretch of the road entirely. However, until then, it is carrying out temporary repair work, said officials.
Jitender Mittal, executive engineer of GMDA, said that have allocated a tender of ₹40 lakh for repairing the potholes permanently. “Presently we are repairing potholes temporarily but due to heavy rainfall, the road gets damaged time and again.Starting Monday, we will repair all the existing potholes to ensure that commuters do not suffer while travelling on the stretch,” he said.
Earlier in November 2018 and March 2019, GMDA carried out extensive repair work on the stretch. However, within a few months the potholes reappeared again, said officials. A road structure test recently carried out by the GMDA officials found out that the damage of the road was extensive.
Work on filling up the potholes will be completed by the second week of September. However, officials added that this is only a temporary fix and the authority is working towards a more permanent solution. A tender has already been alloted for this purpose.
