Gurugram: On the wet Sunday afternoon when the former and longest-serving Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was cremated, it was not only residents of Delhi who were left teary-eyed but also the Gurgaon residents. It was not only Delhi that has expressed gratefulness to Sheila but also Gurgaon which is now Gurugram.
Realising that Gurgaon was a developing city where a large number of Delhiites were going for job opportunities, it was under her leadership that the number of DTC buses were increased and that still continue to transport a large number of residents. Till date, there are three major routes on which the DTC buses ply between Gurugram and Delhi.
These routes include Anand Vihar, Badarpur, Karol Bagh and continue to ferry over lakhs of travellers on a daily basis. Moreover, she also made sure that not only connectivity was not enhanced by increasing the frequency of buses but she also made sure that the Delhi Metro was extended to Gurugram in the form of Yellow line. B
etter coordination between Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Sheila Dikshit with the team of DMRC officials ensured that the phase of Yellow Line metro was completed in time.
In October 2010, Delhi Metro was introduced in Gurgaon that solved a major hurdle of transportation for the travellers of Gurgaon and Delhi. Credited for improving the road infrastructure of Delhi, it was also under her watch that road connectivity between Delhi and Gurgaon improved to world-class levels.
Not only was the Delhi-Jaipur expressway popularly known as National Highway-8 was widened but she also made sure that the Mehrauli-Gurgaon road, most of which was under her department, was improved. Like a true leader, she realised that as Delhi expand, the connectivity towards its suburbs needed to be improved.
Though not a frequent visitor to Gurgaon, she was a popular face especially among the urban electorate for her works in the national capital at her zenith. She attended various rallies in the city and was instrumental in making Congress a strong force in not only Gurgaon but also in Haryana.