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Wrong side of law — killer shortcuts

The Gurugram police have dedicated February 2019 to ‘no tolerance to wrong-side driving’. Rampant traffic rules violations, which are probably not much talked about, compound the chaos on roads in Gurugram city.

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Sumedha Sharma

The Gurugram police have dedicated February 2019 to ‘no tolerance to wrong-side driving’. Rampant traffic rules violations, which are probably not much talked about, compound the chaos on roads in Gurugram city. Those who have been driving on the wrong side on the city roads just to save a few minutes are now doing so on the expressway side lanes, newly built flyovers and even underpasses, leading to a rise in fatal accidents.

While superficially the wrong-side driving is blamed on lack of respect for traffic rules, a deeper analysis reveals poor road planning in the city as the key reason for it.

Golf Course Road

The upscale Golf Course Road has undergone massive transformation with the opening of new underpasses. However, it has led to the problem of wrong-side driving in the city, as the free movement of vehicles has been restricted even on U-turns on the 7-km stretch. Now, these cuts have been closed and rather than travelling a few extra kilometres, commuters drive on the wrong side to save time. One of the worst-hit points is the Genpact junction where vehicles coming from the side of St Thomas Marg head towards the AIT Chowk. If they follow the correct route, they have to take a left turn as they hit the Golf Course Road and then take the first U-turn 100 metres later to travel towards the AIT Chowk. Instead, several vehicles take a right turn on the Golf Course Road, travel against the traffic for 40 metres, and then take the U-turn opposite South Point Mall to travel towards Sector 56.

Similarly, a few metres ahead of the Genpact junction is a turn opposite Vipul Belmonte. It is meant for vehicles coming from the side of the Gurugram-Faridabad road and DLF Phase-5 and travelling towards the Genpact Chowk. However, it is often accessed by vehicles coming from the direction of the AIT Chowk, and heading towards Park Drive, Gurugram-Faridabad road and the Sector 53-54 Chowk Metro station.

DLF Phase-3, Ambience Mall stretch

Residents of DLF Phase-3 drive the wrong side for around 500 metres to save around 20 minutes and the hassle of travelling 6 km to reach Ambience Mall. Not only personal vehicles but also taxis drive on the wrong side to save Rs 100 on toll that they have to pay to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) if they cross the border and take the U-turn at the Rajokri flyover. To remove the bottleneck, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is opening a U-turn underpass near Ambience Mall. It is expected to begin near the Shankar Chowk flyover (on the Udyog Vihar side) and cover nearly 150 metres before ending at Leela Hotel on the other side of the expressway.

U-turn flyover at IFFCO Chowk

It is one of the most ambitious infrastructure upgrades in the city that witnesses rampant wrong-side driving. The one-way U-turn flyover at the IFFCO Chowk provides a bypass to commuters travelling from the MG Road towards New Delhi. However, people take the route driving on the wrong side from the Sukhrali direction towards the Mahatma Gandhi Road and Sector 29. Now, even heavy vehicles can be seen moving on the wrong side.

Hero Honda Chowk, underpass

For the Hero Honda Chowk nothing much has changed even after the construction of an underpass. People can be seen taking the wrong way to get on or off the Delhi-Jaipur expressway and in the process obstructing the exit of vehicles coming from the underpass. This along with the rush at a CNG station leads to congestion at the chowk. 

Basai Chowk flyover

People also drive on the wrong side on the Basai flyover, which was constructed to ease traffic congestion, to travel especially towards the Hero Honda Chowk. Similarly, after the construction of an underpass at the Rajiv Chowk a lot of vehicles can be seen moving on the wrong side towards Medanta rather than driving up to the Jharsa Chowk and taking the U-turn.

Sheetla Mata road

The wrong-side driving on the Sheetla Mata road has increased after the construction of a divider. People visiting the famous shrine and coming from the Atul Kataria Chowk side and the bus stand have to drive to the Sector 5 Chowk for the next U-turn to reach the mandir parking.

However, a wrong turn a few metres ahead helps them to save almost half an hour and a 5-km drive. Not just devotees but also commercial vehicles rampantly drive on the wrong side.


Need to sensitise people about risks of wrong-side driving

Jumping the red light and wrong-side driving seem to have become an obstinate habit with many in the city. It’s undesirable but most of the violators consider it a small traffic violation. They have not been sensitised enough or made aware about the risks involved in wrong-side driving in the millennium city. We are making efforts to make people more aware about the ill-effects of wrong-side driving. We are taking stringent steps to check traffic rule violations which may even amount to suspension of a driving licence.— KK Rao, Commissioner of Police

A life-threatening traffic violation

We are concentrating on the menace of wrong-side driving this month, as it’s surely a life-threatening traffic violation. It happens mainly due to the reluctance of commuters to cover a little extra distance for a U-turn. We have identified sensitive points and are manning them.— Himanshu Garg, DCP Traffic


Wrong-side driving has somewhat become a norm in Gurugram. In Gurugram, there is a growing trend to close traffic junctions and replace them with a series of U- turns. It is difficult but still doable for a car to go a couple of kilometres for the U-turn instead of a simple right turn, but not for somebody on a two-wheeler. What Gurugram needs is the overall traffic circulation in the area. Random closing of turning movement impacts mobility and forces people to drive on the wrong side.— Amit Bhatt, Director World Resources Institute

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