Revamped ahead of CM's visit, part of SPR link caves in

GURGAON: A portion of a road between sectors 78 and 79, recarpeted in the days before chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar's visit to the area last week, caved in within days, bringing under scrutiny the quality of construction.
Residents of the sectors and commuters said on Monday that they had been complaining about the cratered and damaged road - part of a 3.4km stretch that is supposed to connect Naurangpur with the Southern Peripheral Road via sectors 77, 78, 79 and 79A - for the past six months.
Work to repair a 1km section started on May 18, and it was completed before May 21, when CM Khattar was scheduled to attend a Raahgiri event in Sector 79.
On Saturday evening, a portion of this road caved in after rains, and apparently after it was used by commercial vehicles, GMDA officials said.
The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has filled up the pit as a temporary measure, the residents said, alleging that it was poor construction quality that led to the cave-in.
"We were surprised to see the speed in which construction of the 1km patch took place before the CM's visit. It had been lying in a poor condition for months. Clearly, this was meant to paint a rosy picture for the CM. Since it caved in within days, we have serious doubts about the quality of construction material and workmanship. This needs to be investigated," said Dhirender Singh, RWA president of Mapsko Mount Ville in Sector 79.
GMDA officials denied any construction flaws.
"The portion of the road caved in as it was used by a loaded commercial vehicle. The portion where a dumper got stuck had a pipeline, and due to recent rain, soil was eroded. The road has been in use for quite some time and there was no quality issue. It has been designed to cater to passenger vehicles, but there is heavy movement of commercial vehicles from Tauru on it. It will be reconstructed after thorough testing. The work is still going on and provisions will be made for proper disposal of water to ensure road safety," said Abhinav Verma, GMDA executive engineer.
In 2018, GMDA awarded a tender of Rs 18.9 crore to built the entire 3.4km SPR link road. Despite a deadline of six months, the contractor didn't finish the work till May 2022. GMDA brought in another agency the month after that, but even now, over one-third of the construction work is pending.