NHAI raises concerns over private constructions near Sohna village in Gurugram

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has urged the Gurugram district administration to keep an eye on the construction activities by private builders near Dhunela village in Sohna. The agency is concerned about a large water body in the area that has lost its capacity to hold water during monsoon. NHAI fears that it could lead to waterlogging on the highway.

The NHAI project director (project implementation unit) in Sohna, wrote a letter to the deputy commissioner, Gurugram, and said that during monsoon, the Delhi-Vadodara section of the 1,350-kilometre-long Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will get blocked due to waterlogging in an important interchange that is being constructed there.

The Delhi-Vadodara section is part of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which is being built at a cost of 1 lakh crore and passes through Sohna, Palwal and Nuh in Haryana.

In the letter dated March 8, the NHAI project director has stated that an important interchange is being constructed at Dhunela to facilitate the entry and exit of vehicles from the highway. To ensure that there is no waterlogging at this crucial stretch, the authority is constructing structures, including small bridges and drains.

NHAI said that a large plot of land measuring 11 kanals and 10 marlas in khasra number 51 has been registered as a pond in the revenue records, but due to rampant construction activities by private developers, it has been completely filled with earth. “According to the revenue records, this land measuring 5816.46sqmt was always used as a pond by the local residents,” the letter said.

Due to the construction activities, the water body has been filled with earth and it has consequently lost its capacity to hold water. “You are requested to probe the said incident and also ensure that water bodies and drains on both sides of the highway are protected and conserved so as to prevent waterlogging along the highway,” the project director said in the letter.

The Delhi-Vadodara section of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway covers Delhi, Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Sohna, Nuh and Palwal in Haryana; Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Bundi and Kota in Rajasthan; Mandsaur, Ratlam and Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh and Dahod, Limkheda, Panchmahal, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat and Valsad in Gujarat.

Narender Sarwan, district development and panchayat officer, Sohna, said that a letter in this regard has been received from the NHAI and the matter is being probed. “We have sought information from the block development officer (BDO) and he will conduct a spot inspection. We will soon report on our findings to the deputy commissioner and seek directions from him,” he added.