It’s been ten years since the Dwarka Expressway, officially known as the Northern Periphery Road was first planned. Ten years, that saw a large and speculative real estate market mushroom around the route of this road. These ten years saw some 40,000 flats and villas across 100 different residential projects getting sold. Everybody from brokers, developers to investors have made a fortune here. And eventually even lost them here. A land acquisition battle was fought and won in favour of this road. And don’t forget the numerous administrators who have come and gone out of HUDA – Gurgaon’s authority in charge of building the Dwarka Expressway. So much has transpired in these last ten years, and yet this ambitious highway is nowhere complete

Now after eight missed deadlines and an overall investment of Rs 3000 crores, the Haryana Government has pulled up its officers to deliver this road by a new deadline of June 2017. As of today, 16.5 km out of the total 18 km is ready. But ever since the legal breakthrough of last year, what has been progress on the remaining 1.5 km? Here are the top 10 developments from the Dwarka Expressway.

1. Relocation of Displaced Families:
New Palam Vihar, the housing colony of around 400 homes on which about 800-900 kms of the expressway falls will be vacated this month. New Palam Vihar lies along the Bajghera Road, towards the Delhi side and is surrounded by sectors 109, 110, 110A and 112. Oustees will be allotted alternate plots in sector 110A of Gurgaon. In the last few months the Haryana Govt managed to placate all the displaced families who had put up a protest against being moved to Sector 37C, as ruled by the High Court in its final settlement in 2015. HUDA however succeeded in acquiring fresh land in sector 110A which was an agreeable deal to the ousted families. This puts an end to any chance of litigation again from the affected families.

2. Earthwork in Progress:
There were several patches throughout the route which could not be made due to presence of factories, high tension wires or trees. Many such encumbrances have been removed and earthwork is progressing on various sections of the Expressway. Most recently, in sector 110, HUDA has begun laying the newly acquired stretches.

3. Railway Over Bridge at Basai:
Just after sector 100, where the 80X sectors of ‘New Gurgaon’ begin, the Delhi to Rewari rail line near Basai road is located. Over this busy rail route, an over -bridge is to be constructed. After months of no work, HUDA has accelerated the execution of this Railway over-bridge with a huge labour force seen in action on ground.

4. Branding Dwarka Expressway:
HUDA is also paying attention to branding this prime real estate region. Six to seven new gantries have been erected in recent days, marking various sectors and welcoming commuters and property buyers at this 150 meter wide expressway.

5. Bijwasan Flyover Inaugurated:
The Dwarka Expressway is aligned perpendicular to the Dwarka Underpass road, which in turn is parallel to the Bijwasan road. A flyover on the Bijwasan road was inaugurated in December 2015. It is hoped, this flyover will smoothen the connectivity from the Delhi side to the Dwarka Expressway.

6. Parallel Sector Road Ready:
A 75 meter wide sector road that runs parallel to the Dwarka Expressway has been ready since the last six months. It starts from Dwarka Phase 2 and runs through sectors 102, 104 and 106 of Gurgaon along the expressway. This will help with internal connectivity within sectors. And will act as an alternate option until the stalled sections are not built.

7. Delhi Entry Yet to be Acquired by DDA
While Haryana has been somewhat proactive these past few months, Delhi has disappointed on its side of the expressway. 0.5 kms of the Delhi side of the Expressway is still to be acquired by the Delhi Development Authority. CREDAI has been pushing the Union Urban Development Ministry which oversees DDA’s functions to get this stretch acquired. CREDAI President, Getambar Anand shares “the good news is that the Urban Development Ministry has told the DDA to start negotiating directly with the land owners. Because under the land acquisition policy there is a direct negotiation provision also where you can call the landowner and give him two times the circle rate as an acquisition price.”

8. Tunnel from Dwarka to Sector 110?:
To tackle the roadblock of 0.5 kms at the entry of the expressway, it is learnt that the DDA is considering building a tunnel from the site of its Diplomatic Enclave project in Dwarka in Delhi to sector 110 of Gurgaon to avoid acquiring land and getting mired in litigation.

9. Kherki Dhaula Link Still Under Litigation:
While the New Palam Vihar petitioners accepted the new rehabilitation deal offered to them last year, litigation over 200-300 meters of land in Kherki Dhaula village near the Manesar toll plaza is yet to be settled. These petitioners are seeking a higher compensation to release their land holdings.

10. Factory near ROB still to be demolished:
While the Railway Over Bridge near sector 37C, may be getting executed at a fast pace, just before it an auto component factory stands right at the center of the expressway. Even though there is legal clearance to demolish it, HUDA has not been able to complete the compensation proceedings.

Vasudha Sharma, Anchor & Correspondent, NDTV