NH 24 GETS THE MUCH AWAITED WIDENING BOOST

In what could be a highly comforting news for the commuters and residents of East Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida; the 6 years drought has finally come to an end as NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) has rolled out tenders for a 14 lane road on the critical section of NH 24 from Nizamuddin bridge to Dasna which is stretched upto 28 Kms. Also, the 22 Kms stretch of the Dasna-Hapur portion of the highway will be widened to six lanes.

“The stretch from Nizamuddinbridge to Dasna is the most crucial line on NH 24 as it is the gateway for key real estate regions such as Ghaziabad and Noida. This route has always been highly congested which has caused traffic woes resulting to negative sentiments floating amongst residents and commuters of this region. Now since the NHAI has floated out the tenders, the news itself will relax the existing residents and commuters of the regions along with igniting the demand for residential real estate across NH 24”, asserts Mr. VikasBhasin, MD, Saya Homes. The six lanes (three on each side) in the centre of the Nizamuddin bridge-Dasna stretch will be an ‘expressway’, with a very few entry/exit points in order to ensure smooth traffic flow on the corridor. The other eight lanes (four on each side) will be a part of normal highway and thus, commuters won’t have to pay for using these lanes. Mr. Deepak Kapoor, President CREDAI – Western U.P. & Director, GulshanHomz says “This is big news for the region, residents, commuters and developers. On normal days this stretch observes over 30,000 vehicles during office hours along with a traffic inflow of over 75,000 commercial vehicles that enter Delhi. Even after several underpasses constructed to ease the congestion; still the traffic on this stretch has been unbearable. The widening of this 28 Kms line will ensure smooth flow of traffic, no long hauls which will gradually pave way for better demand for the property along NH 24”.

According to NHAI, six of these 14 lanes will be an excess control expressway while the remaining eight lanes will be a normal highway. The stretch from Dasna to Hapur (11 Kms) on the highway will be widened to six lanes. The cost of the project from Nizamuddin to Hapur (49 Kms) is expected to be around Rs. 3,000 crore. The project will be divided into three different phases which will be awarded to the concessionaires for construction on hybrid annuity model where government shares the risk. “It was a matter of time now as this news of widening of NH 24 was in the market for over half a decade. We all have been a witness to the development at Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida; but the corridor along NH 24 was becoming a pain for the residents and commuters due to which the market demand was taking a blow. Once the widening of NH 24 happens, the micro pockets along NH 24 will see a northward demand movement. This region has seen development at a rapid pace as several residential and commercial projects have been setup at Indirapuram, Crossings Republik, SiddharthVihar and parts of Noida which have been largely occupied by people working and commuting from Delhi”, states Mr. Ankit Aggarwal, CMD, Devika Group. Adding to the view, Mr. Sudeep Agarwal, MD, Shri Group enumerates “The widening of Nizamuddin bridge to Dasna is of much significance considering the fact that it is one of the most busy and congested highway stretch of the country and the traffic load has been increasing substantially as we see a lot of residential complexes have come up over the years. This initiative will also help in resolving the issue related with connectivity from NH 24 to Greater Noida West. There is a straight road which goes to Gaur City to roundabout from NH 24. People prefer to take that road to reach out expressway from Ghaziabad. Sometimes people also commute through this stretch when they see traffic problem in Crossing Republik”.

The NHAI officials also said that the Nizamuddinbridge to Dasna will be part of the Delhi-Meerut expressway. The stretch on new alignment between Dasna and Meerut will be developed at a later stage. Mr. KushagrAnsal, Director, Ansal Housing says “It has always been witnessed that construction of a roadway itself has produced great results for the realty market of the regions falling across the routes. The widening of NH 24 is no less than creating a new roadway for the region as the existing stretch was heavily under traffic pressure that had resulted in traffic chaos. A congestion-less NH 24 will give way to greater demand as this stretch has always been the lifeline for commuters from Delhi to Ghaziabad and Noida”. The traffic and population in the regions of East Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida are going to increase further over the next ten years as Greater Noida West market will also to stabilizing by then. Thus, decongesting this slice of NH 24 was the need of hour in order to ensure smooth traffic flow and growth in demand of the regions. “The most prominent sight that we will witness after the widening of NH 24 will be the appreciating prices along the properties located on the NH 24 belt along with smooth traffic flow with no traffic jams. The demand in the micro regions of Ghaziabad such as Indirapuram, SiddharthVihar, Crossings Republik, Raj Nagar Extn.and some sectors of Noida will witness a steep rise. Also, having an expressway will help in generating a lot of revenue for the government”, concludes Mr. Rupesh Gupta, Director, JM Housing.