New Delhi: Fourteen years after Mandi Road's widening was first proposed, three years after it received the lieutenant governor's nod, and nearly a year since its proposed handover to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the project appears to be moving far slower than the traffic it was meant to ease, with no visible progress on the ground.
A key alternative link between Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road and Faridabad-Gurgaon Road, the stretch cuts through a patchwork of farmhouses, villages and commercial clusters. Yet, its infrastructure has not kept pace with the traffic it carries. The road narrows unpredictably, from 30 metres on paper to as little as 8 metres in reality, creating choke points that routinely bring vehicles to a crawl.
“Just yesterday, eight ambulances were stuck in the chaos,” Rajiv Tandon, president of the Federation of South Delhi Farm Houses RWAs, told TOI on Thursday. “The road is far too narrow for the volume it handles. Everyone is fighting to merge onto MG Road. If we did not have our homes here, we would have moved. At least an hour is wasted every day.”
The widening project, which involves acquiring 16.9 hectares of land, was first conceptualised in 2012 and received planning approval from the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) in March 2023. Yet, not a single stretch has seen work begin. The proposed NHAI takeover covers a 7.7km corridor in two segments, from Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road to Urban Extension Road II (UER II), and from UER II to Faridabad-Gurgaon Road. However, despite at least two reminders, the physical handover has not taken place, officials said.
For residents, the repeated delays have steadily eroded confidence. “We had hope in 2012, then again in 2023, and even earlier this year when surveys were conducted. But nothing has moved on the ground,” Tandon added. “The road is carrying far more traffic than it was ever meant to. Add tankers, school vans and tractors, and chaos is inevitable.”
Basic infrastructure gaps only compound the problem. The absence of lane markings, streetlights, footpaths and traffic signals makes the stretch both unsafe and inefficient. During the monsoon season, the situation worsens sharply.
“I stood on the stretch for nearly 20 minutes during a recent downpour, watching people wade through knee-deep water as traffic came to a halt,” said another resident. “Even something as routine as picking up children from school becomes a challenge.”
In contrast, other stretches earmarked for transfer to NHAI, such as parts of NH 10, NH 148A and NH 2, have seen some administrative movement, with internal clearances in place even if physical handover is pending.
There was no immediate response from Public Works Department officials to TOI's queries on the status of the handover of Mandi Road to NHAI. Sources in NHAI, however, said the process is not automatic. “The road must first be formally entrusted and notified as a national highway before any on-ground work can begin,” said an official.
