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Posted on 06 December 2011 |
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| CURRENT AFFAIRS |
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TOLL TROUBLE |
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Purpose of Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway defeated: Commuters
Daily travellers decry forking out toll twice, say location of two booths within just 20 km causes traffic jams
Vishwajoy Mukherjee
New Delhi
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Traffic comes to a halt near one of the toll plazas on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway
Photo: Shailendra Pandey |
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It was a rare moment for some commuters travelling between Gurgaon and Delhi when they didn’t have to fork out the toll for using the super-fast Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway on Sunday—close to thousand protesters stormed the two toll plazas on the Delhi border preventing the operators from collecting fares for close to half-an-hour.
The DLF-dwelling suburbanites took over the toll plazas because they felt that they were being overcharged for using the 20-km stretch, which leads to Manesar. Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited (DGSCL), the firm that operates the expressway, was charging commuters twice by operating two toll plazas—one at Sirhol and another at Kherki Daula, they said. Organisations such as Gurgaon Citizen Council (GCC), Joint Action Forum of RWAs, Shaheed Smarak Committee, Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, Zila Sainik Board and RWAs mobilised people to come out in protest.
“The expressway was supposed to facilitate quick transit between Gurgaon and Delhi but instead people are caught in traffic jams at the toll booths for hours. The location of two toll booths within just 20 km causes traffic jams,” GCC member Gaurav Singla told Tehelka. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the GCC said, “In the last six years, already Rs 6,000 crore approximately has been collected from these two plazas. Therefore, there is no justification for retaining the toll plaza at Manesar, which is putting a heavy burden on commuters of Gurgaon.”
The GCC contends that toll policy for national highways mandates that two toll plazas must be at least 65 km apart. However, DGSCL says that the toll booths have been set up in accordance with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) guidelines. “Due to sheer increase in traffic volume, there have been instances of congestion on the expressway. We are trying our best and working closely with the authorities to resolve the problem. Driving discipline is an issue that we are constantly battling with and it could cause congestion on the expressway,” DGSCL spokesperson said countering the protesters.
As per the Concession Agreement and NHAI directives, the concessionaire [DGSCL] is entitled to collect toll at plazas KM 24 and at KM 42, located on NH8 and the IGI link road leading to the IGI Airport, respectively, at the Delhi-Gurgaon border. However, there have been several reports of malpractices against the NHAI. For example, the NHAI allegedly allowed firms under Build, Operate and Transfer contracts to operate toll booths before the highway was constructed as reported by Tehelka in its cover story (Highway Robbery, by Ashish Khetan, 29 October 2011).
The NHAI, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Haryana government will soon discuss the best possible way to deal with the recent protest. For better traffic management, the ministry believes that the Southern Peripheral Road and the Northern Peripheral Road should converge at NH8, about one kilometre after the Manesar toll plaza. The Haryana government on the other hand believes that the two roads should join NH8 one kilometre before the toll plaza, which will increase the revenue of the DGSCL substantially as the entire Jaipur-bound traffic using either road will converge at the toll plaza.
Vishwajoy Mukherjee is a Trainee Correspondent with Tehelka.
vishwajoy@tehelka.com
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