The Noida Authority has almost completed the construction work of a U-turn right in front of upscale Sector-15A on Dadri main road in Noida. The logic behind this, as given by the officials of the Authority, is that it will ease traffic congestion in the vicinity and provide a smooth passage to residents of the Sector who travel by road towards Delhi.
According to an estimate given by the Authority, this work is going to cost Rs 35 lakh and is expected to be open for public use by June 2. But, this work has raised many eyebrows. Is this project being undertaken for the affluent and influential persons residing in the posh sector or to please a powerful politician from the ruling NDA in the centre?
A point which is worth a mention here is that the project was launched by none other than Union Minister for Culture, Dr Mahesh Sharma in presence of top officials of the Noida Authority.
Experts point out that existing traffic problem on this road for commuters coming from Greater Noida or DND flyaway, who head towards different sectors of Noida or towards Mayur Vihar and other areas of East Delhi, is not going to ease. Rather, the traffic problem will further aggravate.
When the U-turn will be made available to the public, the two traffic signals operating for residents of Sector-15 A, to turn right and enter their sector, will be closed. Peak traffic hours used to see big bottlenecks at these signals.
Now, residents of this posh sector would have to travel an extra mile to take a U-turn from the intersection between Sector- 15 A and Sector- 14A. This intersection will then witness bigger bottleneck in peak hours as the road has not been expanded.
Moreover, this is the place from where people take left turn for going towards other sectors of Noida and by moving straight, commuters move towards Mayur Vihar and other areas of Delhi. Now, this point will also be used by residents of Sector-15A for taking a U-turn to reach their sector.
But, residents of Sector-15A, for the time being, seem to be very happy with the new U-turn. Rajesh Khanna, RWA Secretary of Sector-15A told City Spidey that when this U-turn will be opened, the residents will be easily taking a U-turn and proceed towards Delhi.
“Once the U-turn will be operational, the two traffic signals for residents in front of the gates of Sector 15A will be closed. It would also help in bringing down the accident rate in the area and would save time as well,” Khanna said.
On the other hand, daily commuters are not in favour of this U-turn and said that this U-turn will create a bigger bottleneck for people travelling straight.
Dhiraj Kumar, a daily commuter, said “The U-turn is being constructed only for the convenience of powerful people of the Sector 15A. The Authority officials did not pay any heed to other people’s perspectives. I think there is no need to make this U-turn, the old U-turn was the best option for them and also for others commuters. The authority is wasting our money for the benefits of the powerful people,” Kumar said.
He also said that during peak hours, this will also create a bottleneck for the people travelling straight. Because the vehicles move at a fast pace on this stretch, the chances of an accident will also increase.
