In 2017, Ggn's world class roads remained unsafe for commuters

Gurugram: July 29 was a black day in the year 2016 for Gurugram. Just four hours of rain had resulted in commuters being stranded for more than 24 hours at National Highway-8.

Fast-forward to 2017, a major achievement cited by Haryana government in its tenure is the revamping of Delhi-Jaipur highway which is being used by eight lakh commuters on daily basis.

As the year draws to close the developmental activities of building flyovers and underpasses became a reality at the busiest route of the city.

What started with the opening of the kilometre long flyover stretch at the Hero Chowk will end with the completion of underpasses at the Signature towers that is expected to open in January.

The revamping activity that is being undertaken in collaboration with Ministry of Roads and Transportation is expected to meet its deadline.

It was not only NH-8 but 2017 also proved to be a boon for commuters using the Golf Course road. After more than four years of developmental activities not only was the second phase of rapid metro started but two underpasses was constructed at the route that consists one of the most expensive real properties in the country.

There are now plans to even revamp the Sohna Road, the works of which are going to start in March of 2018.

While crores of monies being pumped in to make the roads of Gurugram world class, the issue of safety of commuters remained a challenge. Gurugram topped the list among districts of Haryana of having highest number of deaths in road mishap.

Till October, 2017 there have already been 368 deaths that have been reported due to accidents. The figure has surpassed the previous figure of 357.

Pedestrians and people on two-wheelers continue to be the most vulnerable of the groups. Faulty road designs, poor signage systems and poor management of traffic in major roads of Gurugram are making it accident prone claim experts.

Moreover, there have been 108 lives have been lost due to over-speeding and rash driving. While maximum number of fatal accidents has been reported from outer areas of Gurugram like Pataudi, Bilaspur and Farukhnagar within the city centre areas of Sector-10, Shivaji Nagar have been deemed to be unsafe.

Shortage of facilities like foot over bridges on busy city roads also adds to the dangers for pedestrians.