The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has closed a lane to traffic on the Hero Honda Chowk flyover after a part of the flyover suffered damage.
A particular stretch of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover on the busy Delhi-Gurugram expressway has once again suffered damage forcing the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to barricade one of the lanes on the Jaipur to Delhi carriageway late on Sunday evening.
A portion of the bridge under the depressed part of the flyover has also lost plaster and concrete due to which iron bars have been exposed below the flyover. NHAI officials said that the matter had come to their notice late on Sunday evening after which one of the lanes of the flyover was barricaded, while traffic is moving through the other three lanes. The same stretch of the flyover had suffered damage twice in the past after it became operational in 2017.
A senior NHAI official, when asked about the matter said that the Hero Honda Chowk flyover has had a history of getting damaged at a particular stretch, and it has been repaired extensively twice in the past.
“One of the lanes of the flyover is depressed and it has been immediately barricaded after we received the information. The company which had constructed this flyover has dissolved and the project has been left redundant. The NHAI will soon form a bridge committee comprising of technical experts, which will conduct a detailed probe into the matter and suggest remedial measures,” he said.
NHAI officials also said that they have deployed traffic marshalls at the spot and a warning light has been installed to indicate the barricade at night.
The construction of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover began in November 2014. The Delhi-Jaipur carriageway first opened in March 2017, while the rest of the flyover opened to traffic several months later. It was built at a cost of ₹200 crore.
Since it became operational in 2017, the flyover has suffered major damages twice in the past due to which the structure was closed for traffic for repairs.
On April 23, 2018, the carriageway of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover from Jaipur to Delhi side had suffered damage after a large chunk of concrete fell from the bridge, leaving a 15 cm-deep and 250 sq cm-wide hole. The same carriageway was again damaged on May 8 in 2019 after chunks of concrete fell from the bridge, forming a hole on the road. NHAI had formed a technical committee which recommended remedial measures in 2020 following which the road was closed and repaired.
Following complaints by a local RTI activist Ramesh Kumar, who alleged that poor quality material was used in the construction of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover, the Gurugram police had also registered an FIR in the matter and action was initiated against the contractor.