Gurgaon expressway to come up by April

The much-delayed Rs 800 crore Delhi-Gurgaon expressway project is now expected to be completed by April, barring the crucial Rao Tula Ram junction near Dhaula Kuan, which will spill over to September.

The project was originally scheduled for completion in July 2005 and is aimed at making life better for nearly 100,000 commuters who traverse the route daily.

Two flyovers""at the Jharsa Junction and the Sector 31 crossing in Gurgaon""were opened to commuters today.

These are expected to ease things a bit. By January next, the IFFCO Chowk flyover will be opened, followed by the Udyog Vihar and South City flyovers in February and the Mahipalpur flyover in March.

N D Mehra, director (commercial) of D S Constructions, the private company which is executing the project on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, insists that the entire project will be completed next April, barring the Rao Tulla Ram stretch.

While Mehra blames the delay on the upgrades made to the project design in July last year, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) says the project was delayed because of cash constraints faced by D S Constructions.

The company says the cost of design changes is around Rs 200 crore, which is being reimbursed by the NHAI.