E-Paper
Get land from GMDA for new toll plaza and start work quickly: State govt to NHAI
On December 28, NHAI had said it had sought instructions from its headquarters on this issue and on Monday said it was still awaiting instructions
Prefer HTon Google
The Haryana government on Monday told the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that it must start work on building a new toll plaza in Pachgaon as soon as possible now that the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) was ready to give it a 28-acre plot for the project, officials aware of the matter said.
On December 28, NHAI had said it had sought instructions from its headquarters on this issue and on Monday, it reiterated that it was still awaiting instructions.
The new toll plaza is needed to replace the existing one in Kherki Daula. Gurugram’s residents have been demanding the removal of the Kherki Daula toll plaza since 2016 because of the daily traffic jams there. So, the government decided to remove the toll plaza in 2017 and build another one at a different location, but had not done so because it could not get land for it. In November, GMDA acquired the land, a 28 acre plot in Pachgaon, and told NHAI on December 28 it was ready to transfer the plot to it. NHAI said in response that it had sought instructions from its headquarters regarding the take over of the land.
“NHAI has been handed over the documents related to the land in Pachgaon and must start work. There should be no laxity regarding this,” said DS Dhesi, the state government’s principal advisor, in a meeting with senior officials of NHAI, GMDA, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, the district administration, and the Gurugram police.
He added that the matter should be included in the monthly district road safety meeting.
On Monday, a senior NHAI official, when asked about the matter, said they had sought instructions from NHAI headquarters.
While the Kherki Daula plaza’s concession period for toll collection ended in January 2023, NHAI converted it into a publicly funded plaza in March and continued to levy tolls.
In other developments, Dhesi asked NHAI to fully open the service road of the Dwarka expressway for motorists, which is now only open in parts. He also said traffic movement on Sohna Road and adjoining roads should be made congestion-free.
He also asked NHAI to construct a foot over-bridge near IMT Chowk on the Delhi-Jaipur highway and to speed up the construction of the Gurgaon-Rewari highway.
NHAI officials told Dhesi that work on the Gurugram-Rewari road is 50% complete, and the Dwarka expressway will be opened for motorists soon following the completion of a safety audit of the road, which is currently underway.
