Gurgaon: A service road near the Kherki Daula toll plaza on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway has deteriorated into a stretch of deep potholes, loose gravel, mud and waterlogging, barely a year after it was resurfaced ahead of an urban mobility conference.The damaged section opposite Hyatt Regency, near the Sector 76-77 junction, has remained in poor condition for more than three months, with motorists and buses struggling to negotiate it.The condition has worsened during the monsoon, with water accumulating on the road and trucks and dumpers adding to the damage. When the surface dries, the broken patches generate dust, adding to pollution along the busy corridor.Residents and commuters said the stretch had been repaired several times in recent months, but the patchwork had not lasted. They attributed the repeated damage to persistent waterlogging, alleging that wastewater from a nearby residential society flows towards the stretch.“The road was made last year, and it started breaking almost immediately. Roads are repaired when there is a govt event, but the underlying problem of unauthorised disposal of wastewater is never addressed. The same issue has continued,” said the RWA president of Winter Hills, Rajnish Sachdeva.Residents also said the potholes have become deep enough to damage vehicles. “A few days ago, my Swift car got damaged while crossing one of these potholes. The safety shield underneath the car came off. If a small car is getting damaged like this, you can imagine the condition of the road,” Sachdeva said.The use of the service road by heavy vehicles has added to the problem, residents said. Trucks and dumpers frequently use it to bypass the toll plaza, putting additional pressure on the weakened surface. Traffic on the stretch could increase further because the Naurangpur-Manesar stretch is closed for drainage work, they added.“Because of the heavy vehicles, the road keeps breaking. Once a few potholes develop, they become bigger with every rainfall and every heavy vehicle passing through them. With route diversion in place for drainage work, many more will use this route. At least some repair should be done,” said a resident of Mapsko Casa Bella, Dharamveer Singh.National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), however, said permanent reconstruction of the stretch had already been planned under its contract. The authority said the service road was to be rebuilt in cement concrete, but the work could not begin because GMDA had proposed constructing a stormwater drain along the same stretch from Kherki Daula towards Manesar.The official said temporary repairs had been carried out, but the road would eventually have to be excavated for the drain project. “GMDA has already commenced construction of the drain,” the official said.
