Toll payment to go digital-only, deployment increased in Kherki Daula
The Gurugram police and highway concessionaire have decided to increase deployment of traffic personnel and marshals at the Kherki Daula toll plaza to prevent jams on Tuesday morning, when the toll goes fully digital and will accept payments only through FASTags
The Gurugram police and highway concessionaire have decided to increase deployment of traffic personnel and marshals at the Kherki Daula toll plaza to prevent jams on Tuesday morning, when the toll goes fully digital and will accept payments only through FASTags.
Personnel have also been deployed to guide motorists to FASTag sale point, set up at the spot, in case they don’t have one. The union ministry has made it mandatory for all toll payments to be made through FASTags from February 16.
Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the concessionaire Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL) and the police are bracing for heavy congestion as around 20% of the vehicles that pass through are yet to obtain FASTags while 10-15% of them don’t maintain the minimum balance. Besides, several government vehicles also do not have FASTags.
MCEPL officials said that this 30% of commuters are responsible for the bottlenecks at the 25-laned toll plaza, as found during the dry runs in the past three to four months.
Gurugram police officials also held a detailed meeting with the NHAI and toll concessionaire on Monday on the strategy to manage the situation.
On Monday, a large queue was witnessed at the FASTag counter at the toll plaza as commuters ahead of the deadline. A senior MCEPL official said that the sale of SMARTags, which averaged around 200 per day earlier, had increased to 500 over the last three days. “The vehicle owners should buy tags, keep minimum balance in their accounts and the government vehicles should also get these at the earliest. We have deployed marshals and our teams would be ready in the morning for traffic management,” an MCEPL official said, requesting anonymity.
The NHAI has also issued directions to concessionaire that motorists without a FASTag must be directed to purchase one on the spot, activate it and then enter the toll plaza. In case this is not possible, the marshals should divert these vehicles to the lane on the extreme left, through which they will be allowed to cross after paying double the toll fee, as per an order issued by Shashi Bhushan, project director, NHAI, Gurugram.
The Gurugram police, meanwhile, is taking no chances as any major jam on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway would impact traffic movement on city roads. The recent spurt in traffic on city roads and the expressway is also a major cause for concern, said police officials.
More than 50 traffic police personnel will be deployed to manage and monitor traffic at the toll plaza and a unit is already stationed there to maintain order and ensure smooth traffic movement, said officials.
Hitesh Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Manesar, said that starting midnight, four personnel will be deployed on each lane to monitor traffic. “The deployment will start by 12 midnight as traffic congestion is expected and most of the commuters are unaware of the implementation of digital payments that will come into force from Tuesday morning,” he said.
The police officials also said that the main challenge at the plaza will be posed by locals, who use their ID cards for claiming exemption and hence, have not got the tags for their vehicles.
KK Rao, the commissioner of police said that traffic officials and Manesar police has been asked to keep a tab on the traffic movement and to ensure all the commuters are dealt with ease and supported. “We aim to ensure congestion-free movement of vehicles and smooth passage for commuters. Precautions have been taken for the same and the toll staff has also been asked not to land in any argument or scuffle with the commuters. Our teams will keep a close watch on all the lanes,” he said.
Rao observed that there are a few RFID readers that are old and slow in processing tags. “We have asked them to either replace the machines or repair them to ensure smooth traffic. Our teams are coordinating with the toll operators and have planned and chalked out plans to guide commuters to get FASTags installed before entering the lanes. We have started awareness on the stretch so that those do not have these digital tags can get them before tonight,” he said.