Haryana government has decided to remove the Kherki Daula toll plaza

Gurgaon: After the Sirhaul toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway was razed in February 2014, the Haryana government has decided to remove the Kherki Daula toll plaza located on NH8.

Haryana Public Works Department (Buildings and Roads) Minister Rao Narbir Singh on Friday said that efforts were being made to remove the Kherki Dhaula toll plaza and provide relief to commuters from the long traffic snarls on the National Highway-8.

He said the Haryana government was in talks with the Centre to get the 26-lane toll plaza removed at the earliest.

Commuter, industrialists and residents want that the Kherki Daula toll plaza should also be shifted out of the city as the toll plaza leads to massive traffic jams every day.

The issue of shifting the toll plaza was raised by villagers belonging to Kherki Daula and surrounding villages.

The 28-km Gurgaon expressway, run by Millennium City Expressways Private Limited (MCEPL) on the Manesar side of Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, caters to traffic from Gurgaon’s newly developed sectors and industrial belts in the region.

Interacting with media persons, Mr. Singh said the contractor for the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway had already recovered the cost incurred on the construction of the stretch. He said that the contractor had raised a bank loan of more than Rs.1,100 crore which remained to be paid, adding that he had taken up the matter with the Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari as to why commuters should pay for the wrong done by the contractor. Mr. Gadkari has assured him that he will get the issue resolved, said Mr. Singh.

The industrialists in the Industrial Model Township, Manesar, have been demanding the removal of the toll plaza for a long time. The toll witnesses long traffic snarls during morning and evening rush hours, with a waiting time of 20-30 minutes on an average. The demand for the removal of the toll plaza gathered steam after the Sirhaul Toll Plaza was removed two years ago.

The minister also informed the media persons that the Union Government had approved the country’s first metrino project in Gurgaon, for which the state government would not have to pay anything.

He said that the National Highways Authority of India had submitted its feasibility report for this project and Mr. Gadkari had said that the work on the project would start by June 1.

He said that ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party came into power, many initiatives were taken to provide relief to Gurgaon residents from traffic jams. One such initiative was remodelling of the three intersections — Rajeev Chowk, IFFCO Chowk and Signature Tower — on NH-8, work on which was likely to start in a month’s time, said Mr. Singh. He added that as per the earlier agreement the cost of remodelling was to be incurred by the Union Government and the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon in 30-70 ratio, but the cost-sharing formula was reversed after the BJP came to power.

Replying to another question regarding ensuring water supply to Gurgaon residents during summer, he said that a demand would be raised before Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to enhance the storage capacity of Chandu Budhera water treatment plant and connect it with the Basai treatment plant. He said that the two plants should have a storage capacity of at least 10 days because during the Jat reservation agitation reservoirs had water stored only for three days.