Gurugram: "Gurugram can lead the way and change the way urban India travels in future" was the recent announcement by Union Minister of Roads and Transport Nitin Gadkari, who assured that the government will make Gurugram a city where new forms of urban transport will be experimented.
To begin with, the central government is working to introduce a system under which the drivers would not be require to stop anywhere while passing through a toll plaza.
The toll would be directly deducted from their bank acounts. At a time when the commuters as well as the operators are facing huge challenges at Kherki Dhaula toll plaza, there are plans to introduce this form of system on the Delhi-Jaipur highway where the toll plaza is located.
With the President of South Korea expected to visit India in May, a memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed between the two countries.
Work on Metrino pod taxis, a driverless sytem between Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar, is again expected to gather steam with the union government expected to float tenders in May.
The plan to introduce the pod taxi concept has been there since 2016.
However, logistical issues have delayed the project. Pollution from vehicular emission is a major challenge in Gurugram. The Union Minister has already provided automakers a deadline to turn to electric vehicles.
On the short-term basis, lakhs of residents residing along Dwarka Expressway are expected to heave a sigh of relief after the announcement that the development works at the 17-kilometre stretch will begin from next month.
A total sum of Rs 7,000 crore will be spent on the project. A host of litigations in the area have prevented the development of infrastructure in the area for more than ten years. Once developed, it is again expected to revive the real estate business in the city.
An ambitious target to reduce the time taken to travel between Gurugram and Mumbai to less than 15 hours has also been set with the construction of new expressway.
This expressway will pass through Mewat that has been officially stated as the least developed district in India and may change the fortune of the residents.
Of late, the enhancing of infrastructure undertaken by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) along with the colloboration with Haryana government has streamlined the movement of traffic at National Highway-8. This is the same stretch where few milimetres of rain in July 29, 2016 had made the vehicles stranded for over 16 hours.