Kherki Daula, other highway tolls to remain free till November 14

Union minister for road transport and shipping, Nitin Gadkari, announced on Friday that the government has decided to extend the suspension of toll collection on all national highways, including the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, till November 14.

Union minister for road transport and shipping, Nitin Gadkari, announced on Friday that the government has decided to extend the suspension of toll collection on all national highways, including the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, till November 14. He announced the decision on the micro-blogging site Twitter, saying it was needed to ensure smooth movement of vehicles.

The highways have been made toll free till November 14 after Rs 500 and Rs 1,00 notes were demonetised. (HT File)

Earlier on Wednesday, the ministry had suspended the collection of toll on national highways till Friday after the decision to de-notify high-value notes was announced by PM Narendra Modi.

Gadkari tweeted: “To ensure smooth traffic movement across all National Highways, the toll suspension has been extended till 14th November midnight”. His announcement was hailed by the many Twitter users, who demanded a permanent removal of toll in the country.

One user, Jaswant Singh Kumar, tweeted “travelled on NH 8 Delhi-Jaipur decision of Mr Gadkari to make toll free travel due to currency very commendable.”

Ashok Sharma, project director, Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, said they too came to know about the extension from social media and they are waiting for written orders from the ministry. “We will implement the extension announced by the transport minister at Kherki Daula toll as it has a very high volume of traffic,” he said.

The decision to make all highways toll-free is to ensure that there are no traffic jams on these high traffic volume roads, and to give time to the operators and commuters to get avail fresh notes.

A delegation from Bangladesh, comprising of planning commission members, auditors, and engineers also visited the Kherki Daula toll plaza and studied the operation and management of the toll plaza and the expressway. Sharma said that the delegates showed keen interest in the working of the control room, collection of toll, highway security, and management of traffic, which they admitted was a difficult task.