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NGO demands new regulatory body to monitor expressway
A newly-floated social organisation — The People’s Voice — that primarily consists of residents of Gurgaon has raised its voice for setting up of a regulatory authority for monitoring operations on the Gurgaon Expressway, reports SK Ahuja.
A newly-floated social organisation — The People’s Voice — that primarily consists of residents of Gurgaon has raised its voice for setting up of a regulatory authority for monitoring operations on the Gurgaon Expressway.
It has also demanded a rollback of the proposed hike in toll rates effective from April 1 for commuters of the Gurgaon Expressway.
S P Gupta, a retired HUDA administrator and chief patron of The People’s Voice said his organisation took up the issue, as it concerned lakh of people on a daily basis.
“A majority of our members, especially women, brought up commuting problems on the Gurgaon Expressway. About 1.3 to 1.5 lakh motorists use the Gurgaon Expressway daily and face hardships because of long queues on toll plazas,” Gupta added.
Sharad Goyal, president, The People’s Voice, said they would soon make a representation in front of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for setting up of a regulatory authority that could function as a watchdog for the Gurgaon Expressway.
“More than 100 people have died on this fast stretch and thousands of commuters face hardships at the toll plaza. Yet, there has been no action against either the NHAI or the DSC officials. We also oppose the proposed hike in toll rates that are going to be effective from April 1,” said Goyal.
“We do not understand why should the toll rates go up every year?” Goyal demanded.
However, NHAI officials said that toll rates were fixed according to a pre-decided formula, based on the whole-sale price index by the concerned ministry.
It was done all over the country, for all tolled highways and the NHAI had no control on it.
On the watchdog issue, NHAI officials said that the independent consultant had been acting as a watchdog to ensure that all the terms and conditions of the concessionaire agreement were being met.
