“The administration talks about safety and security on MG Road. But, how can there be any safety when liquor shops are running openly and there is no check on them? Even the other vendors on the greenbelt are a great threat to safety and security. Who will be responsible if some untoward incident takes place,” asked Manish Yadav, a social activist from DLF-II.

All the major malls in the city are located on MG Road. The encroachers have created such a mess in the area that people coming to Bristol Hotel and the Grand Mall face a lot of trouble. “I feel unsafe to do shopping on MG Road malls after dusk not because of the pubs located inside the mall but because of the machans of the liquor shops,” said Usha Khanna, a customer at one of the MG Road malls.

“MG Road turns into a ‘V’ near Bristol Hotel and the spot witnesses frequent traffic jams. Vendors sitting in the areas, with cars parked near their shops and establishments are a cause of concern for all,” said Deepak Verma, an office-bearer of Sushant Lok RWA.

HUDA Administrator Praveen Kumar said, “The problem has been pointed out by residents and customers. We are aware of the problems of the residents. A few months ago, we had removed all the encroachers from the stretch. Since the repair work on the road is going on, we are not taking any action right now. We will take action against the encroachers after the repair work is over.”

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Motorists headed for the service road leading to Ambience Mall — a major Gurgaon landmark — have to literally risk their lives day in and day out while they attempt a right turn via the U-turn after emerging from the Sirhaul toll plaza on Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.

Even as speeding cars rush past these waiting vehicles — sometimes avoiding accidents just by a whisker — there is no solution to the issue in sight despite a high court intervention.

The U-turn is absolutely critical for people headed for Ambience Mall, Hotel Leela Kempinski or Lagoon Apartments.

Suggestions to construct an underpass here have gone unheard as this was not provisioned in the detailed project report made by the National Highways Authority of India.

“I had proposed to bear the cost of the subway for the welfare of commuters who has to take a right turn from this U-turn and risk their lives to get to the other side of the expressway through the service road. I had also suggested shifting the toll plaza away from Ambience Mall,” said Raj Gehlot, the promoter of Ambience Island.

In September last, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Gurgaon police not to allow vehicles coming from the Gurgaon side to take a right turn.

However, soon after, public outrage had forced the Haryana Urban Development Authority administrator to intervene and remove the barricades.

In case the U-turn is permanently blocked, the commuters will have to pay toll twice and take a detour of 3.5 kilometres to get to the service lanes.

Source-http://www.hindustantimes.com

Since the latter half of 2011, this group has been conducting unique events to create a pedestrian and cyclists-friendly city.

The 500-member public group last month organised a unique ‘Walk to Work’ initiative in collaboration with industry body Nasscom where CEOs walked to their offices from the nearest Metro station instead of taking their cars.

“Thankfully, the NMT idea has now percolated into the minds of the city authorities. The city will set a positive example for the rest of the country if the plan gets the green signal,” Nisha Singh, a city councillor and one of the key group members.

The group also introduced Gurgaon to Columbia’s Ciclovia concept where roads are partly barricaded to stop the entry of motor vehicles so that cyclists and pedestrians can have a free and safe experience.

In an event in April at Leisure Valley Grounds, some of the most powerful men in Gurgaon — the Huda administrator, the municipal commissioner and the police commissioner – also took to the humble cycle.

Source-http://www.hindustantimes.com

(Hundreds of pedestrians risk their lives daily while crossing busy roads such as the one near Huda City CentreMetro Station in Gurgaon. (Manoj Kumar/HT)

Frequent jams, traffic bottlenecks, lack of road space, non-functional traffic signals and unmanned crossings are major trouble areas.

Flaws in road design force commuters to take a detour of seven kilometres from Rajiv Chowk to the Kherki Dhaula toll plaza in order to take a u-turn. Gurgaon residents risk their lives while maneuvering through high-speed vehicles as they negotiate a u-turn to go to Ambience Mall.

Getting stuck for 30 minutes at the Signature Tower Chowk during peak hours is a routine affair and the absence of a traffic signal at the Huda City Centre Metro station, which is often unmanned, only makes things worse.According to the mobility plan on Gurgaon prepared by the Department of Town and Country Planning, the average speed of intra-city traffic in the city is 23 kilometres per hour. Motor vehicles use 60% of the total roads in Gurgaon whereas public transport occupies only 10% of road space. Only 23% roads have walkable footpaths.

Nearly 2,300 kms of internal road network notwithstanding, the Millennium City lacks adequate space, thanks to the surging number of vehicles on roads.

Nearly 60,000 new vehicles are registered every year in the city and 10 lakh vehicles ply on city roads everyday that include around five lakh inter-city vehicles plying mainly on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and Gurgaon-Faridabad Expressway.

At major Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway crossings like Shankar Chowk, Iffco Chowk, Signature Tower and Rajiv Chowk, ill-designed u-turns, faulty traffic lights or their absence, oversized concrete triangular structures that bifurcate traffic through slip roads make driving on Gurgaon roads a horrible experience.

“While cities like Ahmedabad have taken a lead in addressing traffic woes as their top priority, there seems to be a complete policy paralysis in Gurgaon when it comes to planning and implementing models of traffic management,” says Sarika Panda, a city resident and an urban planning expert, who is working with the Haryana Urban Development Authority to promote non-motorised transport (NMT) in Gurgaon. Heavy reliance on private cars as there is hardly any public transport system in the city adds to the chaos, she adds further.

City resident and former joint commissioner of police (traffic), Delhi, Maxwell Pereira points out that pedestrians and cyclists are left out when planners make crossings and roads in India.

Gurgaon joint commissioner of police Maheshwar Dayal, who is presently also looking after the traffic department, says all stakeholders are trying to work in tandem.

“We hold routine meetings with civic bodies and make them aware of design faults at crossings. We have raised the issue of the bottleneck at Sirhaul toll plaza bottleneck on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway at highest levels including in courts,” he says.

A senior official of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda), which has planned 30 cycle  shelters across Gurgaon, said that the service at the Huda Metro station will start first in a fortnight.

Initially, the service will be launched at the five Metro stations — Huda City Centre, Iffco Chowk, MG Road, Sikanderpur and Guru Dronacharya.

“A commuter can hire cycles at these shelters against fixed charges and on submission of an identity proof. While the first two hours will cost R10, the subsequent hours will cost R5 extra for each hour. The user will have to submit the original copy of an ID proof, preferably government documents. The service will be available from 9am to 8pm, but one can keep the cycle overnight at an extra charge of R100,” said Sudhir Haryal, promoter of Planet Advertising, the firm that will run the cycle shelters.

While such services are very popular near Metro stations in Delhi and have huge takers among students of Delhi University’s north campus, Gurgaon residents have long been demanding such non-motorised transport infrastructure in the city.

Source-http://www.hindustantimes.com/

The joint commissioner of police directed ACP Bhupinder Singh to initiate the work on the project. After the cameras are installed, police will be able to check suspicious activities.

Joint commissioner of police Maheshwar Dayal told HT: “The initiative will ensure safety and security of commuters. The cameras would record all incidents of robbery, theft, molestation and traffic violation. The control room of the CCTV cameras would be in my office.”

According to police, two traffic officials have been given the task of monitoring the CCTV feeds.

The ACP said, “We do not have exclusive cameras to keep a tab on the movement of suspicious elements. This initiative will help us identify, chase and nab the accused.”

Although gangs like ‘maxi-cab’ gang that killed about 30 people are active in Gurgaon, police have not taken any effective steps to curb such incidents. A Mewati gang also operate in the city at night.After the cameras are installed at Iffco Chowk, Gurgaon police will focus on the other three intersections. These intersections have become a potential security hazard to the commuters.

Source-http://www.hindustantimes.com

“The apartment owners pay Rs. 90,000 for covered parking and Rs. 45,000 for open parking for one car. They have to shell out this amount every time they buy a new car and want to park it inside the complex. Had the parking rates been lower, the number of cars inside the complex could have been even higher,” said Anil Yadav, the president of Maple Crescent Condominium Association (MCCA) that maintains the upkeep of this gated community.  Despite these high charges, the apartment complex has 300 extra cars even as the apartments in its complex number 540. Many of these cars are seen parked in driveways and service lanes.