Narrow path, empty plot — these are ‘24-m’ access roads to several Gurgaon societies. CM’s promise brings them cautious hope

With Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini acknowledging the scale of the problem and promising to address the issue, the area’s collective RWA as well as the Dwarka Expressway Gurugram Development Association (DXP-GDA) are cautiously optimistic.

A narrow 11-feet road, bound by walls on both sides, is the only way to reach the main gate of Raheja Vedaanta society in Gurgaon’s Sector 108. (Express Photo)

While presenting the Haryana State budget on Monday, the CM said: “It is evident that in Gurugram today, hundreds of licenced colonies exist where access roads are only two-karam wide at certain locations and four-karam wide at others. Lakhs of families are facing hardship due to this issue. I have resolved that a permanent solution to this problem will be worked out during 2026-27.”

He announced that the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) policy will be used to resolve the issue. Under this, the land acquisition process for the development of these 24-metre roads will now be initiated and the expenditure incurred will be recovered from builders.

Saini added, “… a revised TDR policy was introduced in 2021, under which only 140 acres of land have been obtained so far. The land acquisition process for the development of these 24-metre roads will now be initiated, and the expenditure incurred will be recovered from builders.”

When many of these societies were launched, developers advertised 24-metre-wide access roads.

This is as per the Gurgaon Master Plan 2031, where 24-m roads are mandated for internal sector roads in newer residential sectors.

However, on the ground, several of these roads are around 3.36-6.72 metre wide, partially constructed, or laid out on private agricultural land without acquisition.

After repeated protests by Gurgaon homebuyers, efforts were made to tackle the problem in August 2025. Criticising builders for advertising wide roads during pre-booking, only to fail to construct them, often due to land ownership disputes, Haryana Industries and Commerce Minister Rao Narbir Singh had directed that no Occupancy Certificates (OC) shall be issued to builders in Gurgaon unless they construct the approach roads promised to buyers.

Across societies with flats worth crores, the issue persists.

At Indiabulls Centrum Park in Sector 103, which houses 1,200 flats, residents pointed to the promised approach road — it is an open plot leading to agricultural land meant to be part of the 24-m road connecting to the main gate. The society currently has to use its secondary gate as its main one, RWA member Rakesh Prasad said.

“Right now, there is no clarity on who will acquire [land for the approach road]… the builder told us they are not able to. Without the 24-m roads, the whole sector is dependent on a 22-ft revenue service road. It is in a constant state of maintenance due to utilities below it,” claimed Prasad.

“Our struggle will continue until the actual construction of the first road begins on the ground,” said Sunil Sareen, co-convener of DXP-GDA and vice-president of Emaar Imperial Gardens Society in Sector 102.

In his society, what was supposed to be the back gate has become the main one. The actual main gate, despite displaying a large sign with the society’s name, has no usable approach road, he said.

At one end, the road here runs into a wall beyond which lies non-acquired agricultural land; at the other, it ends similarly — only without a wall — making it a complete dead end, said Sareen.

Builders of the three societies couldnt be contacted over calls for comment.

In his Budget speech on Monday, CM Saini explained how the situation arose. “It is necessary to understand how licences were granted to such colonies,” he said.

“Under the Master Plan 2001 of Gurugram, no such problem arose because HSVP [Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran] acquired land and constructed internal 18-metre roads in all sectors. But after the Master Plan 2021 was implemented in 2007, no land was acquired by HSVP for any road measuring 24 metres in width nor has the cost of land acquisition for these roads been included by the government in the EDC [External Development Charges] payable by builders taking licences for private colonies.”

The CM then blamed previous regimes for the situation. “The Minister of the then government should clarify why such a decision was not taken as hundreds of colonies developed between Sector 58 and Sector 115 are today deprived of access through 24-metre roads.”

DXP-GDA convenor Sunny Daultabad, however, said, “… A lot of private land acquisition will need to be done, for which the timeline and mechanisms need to be specified. Right now, many plots are unlicence-able as they lack revenue roads.”