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Gurgaon Is Set To Get A Serious Makeover To Rid City Of Traffic Jams, Waterlogging, Says Govt

The traffic jams and waterlogging we've seen in the recent past could "dent our international image," says Road and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Good news for Gurgaon residents: the Central government is ploughing some serious money into Gurgaon roads and city infrastructure to help rid the "millennium city" of its notorious traffic congestion problems and waterlogging.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Economic Times the government is investing close to ₹10,000 crores in a series of projects including building bypasses, introducing pod taxis, and building a proper drainage system.

Among the measures to de-congest is a plan to introduce a brand new national highway, Dwarka Expressway, which will be an alternative to the Delhi Gurgaon expressway, he said. The government is in various stages of acquiring land for this. However, the timeline on its completion is still unclear.

To prevent waterlogging, which usually brings the city to a standstill in the monsoon season, Gadkari said the National Highways Authority of India and the Haryana government are constructing a dedicated drain along with several "outfall" drains.

"Once these outfall drains are constructed, the issue of waterlogging would never recur. I have already asked NHAI to make necessary arrangements so that there's no work left on our part," Gadkari said.

Gurgaon is also planning a pilot run of the futuristic "pod taxis," which will be small battery-operated, driverless vehicles plying on an elevated track. Termed "Metrino," the construction costs of these pod taxis is only about a quarter of the cost of the metro, which costs ₹200 crores per kilometre to build.

Well, if all of this comes true, the city residents can surely wear the "Happening Haryana" tag with pride.

Read the full interview here.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.