How fast does it get? 3-km line-up at Gurugram toll plaza
Sanjay Yadav
Gurugram, December 16
Day 2 of the FASTag operations threw the Kherki Daula toll plaza here out of gear with a tailback of 3 km for most part of the day. Vehicles were allowed to roll out without any toll for at least eight times on Monday as the line-up stretched and even emergency vehicles were stuck in the jam. Numerous spats were also reported between motorists and the toll authorities.
One of the main reasons for the holdup was the confusion over the double toll being levied on vehicles without FASTag stickers which moved in the ‘fast’ lanes. While the authorities insisted on the double charges, motorists argued that the government had eased the norms till January 15. However since the notification is silent on the charges, there was much confusion and chaos.
Confusion Over Double Charges
- The NHAI had on Saturday evening issued a notification giving relief to commuters for next 30 days (till January 15).
- The plaza saw chaos as notification is silent on the charges (whether double toll to be paid by non-FASTag vehicles entering ‘fast’ lanes)
The toll plaza managers insisted on double charges while the motorists argued that norms had been eased
More than 25 traffic police personnel and NHAI officials were deployed at the toll plaza. FASTag lanes were increased from 12 to 19 while the six lanes that catered for the cash mode saw the maximum chaos. The cops tried to keep the traffic going but they could do little. The toll management and NHAI officials claimed that the situation would be normal by next month. Since Monday was the first working day after implementation of FASTag, traffic was heavy in all lanes leading to Manesar. The tailback went up to 3 km several times in the day and by the evening there was traffic jam in all lanes leading to Gurugram. Toll authorities said around 85,000 vehicles pass the toll plaza in a day. Currently, around 21,000 vehicles have FASTags while 64,000 are using the cash mode.
“There are several problems like people not recharging their tags and then arguing with lane operators. Many have tags that have not been activated but we hope that the situation will be normal soon because the number of FASTag users will increase day by day,” said Rajender Singh Bhati, manager of the Kherki Daula toll plaza.
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