Toll plaza problems will soon be over: Nitin Gadkari

Lucknow: Taking cognisance of the increasing cases of violence and traffic jams on toll plazas, Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the problems will soon end as his department is all set to introduce Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags for vehicles.

“Commonly known as Fast Tags, these will be installed in vehicles and the toll charges will be deducted from the account of vehicle owner after the tag is scanned at toll plaza,” said Gadkari

Gadkari on RFID:

• These tags will help in curbing traffic jams.
• Charges will be deducted directly from the account.
• It will save a lot of time and fuel.

On construction of Ring road:

• Journey from Lucknow to New Delhi will be reduced to 3.5 hours.
• Generally it takes 8 to 8.5 hours to cover this distance of about 500 kms.
• Preparations are underway for the construction or ring road from Lucknow to Dasna.
• An expenditure of Rs 11,000 crores will incur on it.

Journey from Lucknow to Kanpur:

Watching the snarling traffic between the cities Union Minister said the journey will soon be reduced to just 30 minutes

• The ministry has taken a decision to construct an eight lane highway from Lucknow to Kanpur.
• The two and half hour journey will be reduced to just 30 minutes.

Delhi to Meerut:

The journey to Meerut from national Capital will be reduced to just 40 minutes as two highways are being constructed on the route.

• Highways will pass through Uttar Pradesh.
• An axis control highway will be constructed from Swaminarayan temple to Dasna.
• There will be a green express way highway from Meerut to Dasna.

Major incidents:

January 22, 2016

The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of Uttar Pradesh police on January 22 this year, vandalised the toll plaza in Jalaun district.

• The incident occurred when the SWAT team was going from Orai to Kalpi.
• When the toll plaza workers asked for their identity cards they refused to show it and got angry.
• Later, they were allowed to go without paying toll.
• The next day, when the SWAT team was returning from Kalpi, the toll plaza worker Neeraj opened the barricade but suddenly the SWAT members came out of the car and started beating him.
• The SWAT team’s hooliganism was recorded in the CCTV camera.
• SWAT team also fired at the toll plaza.
• The in-charge of SWAT team was present when his men went berserk.

February 3, 2016

On Wednesday last, Sonbhadra district administration ordered the demolition of the Lodhi toll plaza on Varanasi-Shaktinagar National Highway.

• The district administration said that the construction of toll plaza was illegal.
• The notice by Kailash Singh, sub-divisional magistrate of Sadar left the road construction company officials worried.
• The notice given to the project manager of the construction company said that the toll plaza was illegal as it was located on forest land.

June 8, 2015

On July 8 last year, former state minister Iqbal and his workers tried to kidnap the toll plaza worker for demanding toll tax at Ahmadpur toll point of Barabanki. As they failed to kidnap the worker, they fired at him.

• The registration papers of Iqbal’s car number ‘HR 26-BH-7070’ were found to be fake.
• Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Satyadev issued a non-bailable warrant against Iqbal, a member of the Samajwadi Party, his workers Mohammad Abid and Samar Bahadur.

August 9, 2015

In the evening of August 9, 2015, nine people fired at the Unnao toll plaza. One of the car passengers refused to pay the toll tax saying that he was a representative of a Member of Parliament, a category exempted from paying toll tax.

• H K Pradhan, systems manager of toll plaza, tried to convince him but they did not agree to pay and started beating the manager and others.
• Four people were severely injured in the fracas.
• An ambulance of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) was also damaged in the fight.
• Seven people were later arrested.