GMDA, NHAI inspect site for shifting Kherki Daula toll plaza

Shifting the toll plaza has been a longstanding demand of residents over the past decade as rapid urbanisation of newer sectors beyond the toll led to traffic jams for thousands of commuters who use this stretch to commute to and from Manesary every day. The GMDA took possession of 28 acres from the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) in January 2024 for shifting the toll plaza

Gurugram: Officials of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Thursdayinspected a 28-acre land parcel in Pachgaon village to assess the feasibility of shifting the Kherki Daula toll place.

Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurugram. (HT PHOTO)

A senior GMDA official said the inspection comes after the secretary of Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) V Umashankar in a meeting in Delhi directed the NHAI to assess the feasibility of shifting the toll plaza.

The GMDA official, requesting anonymity, said: “NHAI officials have said that they will prepare a feasibility report, but it seems there is reluctance in the authority to shift the toll plaza as it is a major source of revenue.”

A senior NHAI official, who attended the meeting in Delhi, said, “This is a policy matter and they could not comment on it.”

Shifting the toll plaza has been a longstanding demand of residents over the past decade as rapid urbanisation of newer sectors beyond the toll led to traffic jams for thousands of commuters who use this stretch to commute to and from Manesary every day. The GMDA took possession of 28 acres from the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) in January 2024 for shifting the toll plaza.

“Officials from the GMDA, led by chief engineer Arun Dhankhar, and senior officials from NHAI, including regional officer Mohd Saifi, visited the Pachgaon site and discussed the possibility of shifting. The highways authority officials were asked to find ways to shift the toll plaza,” a senior government official aware of the matter said.

Later, GMDA CEO Shyamal Misra also met the NHAI team on the issue.

To be sure, the concession period to collect toll on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway finished in February 2023, following which the NHAI notified the expressway as a public-funded road.

Earlier this week, MoRTH minister Nitin Gadkari, replying to a question in the Parliament, said that ₹2,727.5 crore was collected as user fee on the expressway starting January 12, 2003, while cost of ₹2,489.45 crore was incurred on it.

In 2016, Gadkari announced at a public rally in Badshahpur that the government will shift the Kherki Daula toll plaza if the Haryana government made land available at an appropriate location.

Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh, who has repeatedly called for shifting the toll plaza, said he will take up the issue with Gadkari in a meeting next week.