GURUGRAM: Arms covered with full-sleeved clothes, faces masked with scarves, car windows

GURUGRAM: Arms covered with full-sleeved clothes, faces masked with scarves, car windows
rolled up — are necessities for commuters taking the Atul Kataria Road, one of the busiest
stretches in the city.
It connects the city’s residents to Dwarka Expressway, the railway station, the bus stand, the
Maruti manufacturing plant on the Old Palam Gurugram road, Kapashera border, Sheetla Mata
temple, Signature Towers, and other residential and commercial hubs.
But an underpass yet to be completed at the Atul Kataria Chowk has choked the area. The
junction and a 2km portion around it is permanently shrouded in dust. Loose dust has blurred
the visibility to a few hundred metres and the roads and pavements are broken.

Construction for the underpass, meant to ease traffic flow to Old Gurugram, began in July 2019.
The project was supposed to be completed by November that year, but has seen several delays
since. Work on the underpass has been suspended yet again, this time due to the construction
ban enforced under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) due to plunging air quality in
NCR this month.
“I have difficulty breathing even though I keep my car’s windows rolled up while crossing this
road. My car is caked in dust after passing through this area,” said Suresh Singh, a resident of
Sector-107.
“The roads are broken and there are no footpaths. Hundreds of vehicles on the road kick up
dust and compromise visibility,” said Mahesh Sharma, who works for an automobile
manufacturing company.
On paper, authorities are supposed to ensure that construction sites mitigate dust pollution by
sprinkling water and keeping all raw material covered. That hasn’t happened on the ground,
though officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), which is carrying out the construction
work on behalf of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), say they have
been taking adequate steps.
“Work on the underpass has been halted since the last few days as per GRAP norms. To
prevent dust pollution, we are sprinkling water and have covered debris at the site,” said a
senior PWD official.
“We have another 15 to 20 days of work remaining on the underpass. If the ban on construction
is lifted soon and not reinforced later for any significant amount of time, we can have the facility
ready next month,” he added.
GMDA’s executive engineer Amit Godara too said the authority will try to “resolve the issue” as
soon as GRAP restrictions are lifted. “We are sprinkling water to mitigate dust pollution,” he
added.
When asked, an official from the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) said its teams
will carry out an inspection and “take adequate action”.
Experts said dust was a major component of PM2.5 pollution. “Road dust generated through
traffic movement, unpaved roads, lack of green cover on roadsides and verges, and dust
deposits at construction sites contribute to air pollution. The best way to handle this is to ensure
better road quality, and plant trees,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research
and advocacy, CSE.