Forest Department Delay is Causing the Delhi Portion of Dwarka Expressway to Lag Behind Haryana’s

There has been a delay in the completion of Dwarka Expressway because tree felling clearance is not obtained from the forest department. As a result, the Delhi portion is slightly behind the Haryana portion, said NHAI officials. By March 2021, if everything goes as per plan, the Haryana portion is expected to become operational.

The expressway is being constructed in 5 packages. While work on the 1st package (Shiv Murti to Sector 21 Dwarka Metro Station) hasn’t commenced yet, tree felling is underway in the 2nd package (Sector 21 Dwarka to Haryana border) of the project. Although, the construction work on either hasn’t picked up any pace. According to Manoj Kumar, chief general manager (technical) NHAI, package 2 work was awarded in October 2019 with a 2-year timeline and tree felling has started here. Though phase 1 work has also been awarded, permission from the forest department for tree felling is still not processed. Without this permission, work cannot commence on the project.

Once the permission is obtained, tree felling and finishing of the casting yard will take around 6 months according to NHAI contractor. Permission for felling 6,343 trees was sought by NHAI officials before Delhi elections. However, they got a go-ahead for translocating only 4,425 trees. The area has 1,918 trees that are exotic and cannot be translocated. This is the reason why the forest department is not green signaling them to go ahead with the task. As a result, the project is held up currently.

According to Ishwar Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of forests, Delhi forest department, NHAI’s request for tree felling has been forwarded to the state government for action. Since permission for translocation and felling of trees had been given for package 2, the same can be expected for package 1 also. On completion of the project, commuters will be able to use 18.96 km of the total 29 km Dwarka Expressway from March 2021.

Compared to Delhi, things have been smoother for NHAI in Haryana. Since fewer trees needed to be felled, the permission was granted early. Work on package 3 (Haryana border-Basai railway overbridge), package 4 (Basai ROB-CPR/SPR/NH-8 Junction) has already commenced in October 2019. NHAI had asked permission to fell 2,041 trees from the Gurugram forest department which was granted. The Haryana portion is entirely elevated with 2 exit points at Babarpur and Pataudi Road. NHAI plans to start closed tolling here where commuters will pay for only the distance, they travel.