Gurgaon: GMDA on Thursday blocked an illegal access route to Dwarka Expressway over the Badshapur drain near Sector 99 by installing jersey barriers, citing damage caused to concrete slabs placed over it due to movement of trucks and dumpers from nearby ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants.“This is not a road but a drain. Its slabs are damaged because heavy traffic moves over it. The route was blocked to prevent any untoward incident,” a GMDA official said.The Badshapur drain is among the city’s three major stormwater channels and plays a key role in carrying runoff during the monsoon. It carries stormwater from a catchment area of around 24,100 hectares, stretching from Ghata village up to the Najafgarh drain. Officials said any compromise to its structural integrity could worsen waterlogging and flooding during the rainy season. “It could also endanger commuters’ safety if the concrete slab collapses,” they said.The closure has, however, affected hundreds of families in sectors 99 and 99A, and nearby colonies who depend on this route to reach the expressway due to lack of proper road connectivity in the area. The revenue road that earlier connected them to Dwarka Expressway was acquired by HSVP for construction of an HVPNL substation, they said, adding that with that route cut off, traffic gradually shifted to the drain cover, turning it into an unofficial thoroughfare.An incomplete stretch of the Sector 99 main road adds to the problem. A 200m patch remains unfinished and is part of the 10.5-km Upper Dwarka Expressway road network, which links outer Sector 99 to the stretch dividing sectors 114 and 115. While GMDA upgraded most of the road in 2023, this 200m portion, originally built by HSVP in 2014, remained pending due to a land compensation dispute.
