Six hybrid lanes opened at Kherki Daula toll plaza

Three canopy lanes on each side of the 25-lane Kherki-Daula toll plaza became functional on Monday, more than three weeks after toll collection was stopped due to

Three canopy lanes on each side of the 25-lane Kherki-Daula toll plaza became functional on Monday, more than three weeks after toll collection was stopped due to the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of Coronavirus.

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These lanes will be hybrid and will accept both cash and FASTag for the time being, though use of cash was discouraged to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, officials said.

On Monday, Gurugram traffic police personnel were deployed at the canopy lanes to check curfew passes of commuters and jersey barriers were still in place in front of the remaining 19 lanes.

Systems manager with highway concessionaire MCEPL, Anish John, said, “Vehicles are moving through the canopy lanes as there is less traffic. Each vehicle is being checked by the police for curfew passes. On Monday till 3 pm, 6,342 vehicles, mostly trucks, had crossed the toll plaza.”

The Kherki-Daula toll plaza was closed on March 25, day 1 of the 21-day lockdown now extended till May 3, after the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) took a decision to make the toll plazas across the country free.

Toll officials said during the lockdown period, 1,70,658 vehicles crossed the toll.

MCEPL chief executive officer S Raghuraman, said, “We are preparing the amount which NHAI can compensate us during the lockdown period.”

Meanwhile, the toll booth operators have raised concerns about accepting toll payment in cash. “The booth operators are scared to take cash from commuters because of coronavirus. We are encouraging commuters to pay through FASTag,” Kherki-Daula toll plaza project director Rajender Bhati said.