The consultant has submitted a feasibility report for the construction of a toll plaza in Pachgaon on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway to the NHAI head office. The report has already been sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for further consideration.

The report details the average vehicle traffic at Pachgaon, both daily and during peak periods. Based on these findings, the decision on the number of lanes for the toll plaza will be made. The ministry is expected to finalize its decision regarding the construction of the toll plaza within this month.

Demand for Removal of Kherki Daula Toll Plaza

Public frustration is growing regarding the NHAI’s lack of action on the toll plaza construction in Pachgaon. Many citizens are indicating that if decisions are not made within the month, they will start writing openly to the Prime Minister.

In parallel, there has been persistent demands regarding the removal of the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. This has been supported by the general public, and Rao Inderjit Singh, the local MP and Union Minister, has been actively calling for the relocation of the toll plaza from Kherki Daula to Pachgaon.

He met with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari about it last month. Subsequently, a consultant completed a study regarding how many vehicles traverse Pachgaon on a daily basis and during peak hours.

Consultant Submits Feasibility Report to NHAI

The consultant completed a one-week study and subsequently submitted his evaluation to the NHAI. The data included in the report is confidential for the time being. It has been reported that the information will be made public after the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways examines the evaluation. The design of the toll would be such that the traffic pressure won’t increase over the next 15 years.

It is also important to highlight that approximately 75,000 to 80,000 paying vehicles cross the Kherki Daula toll plaza each day. Furthermore, more than 100,000 vehicles passes without toll. With this, the toll plaza should facilitate no less than 40 lanes, however, presently it has 25. Thus, the congestion has shifted from peak congestion hours to 24 hour traffic.

Public Frustrated by Slow Progress

People have started getting very frustrated with the progress towards construction of the toll plaza at Pachgaon. As it stands, the construction workers and contractors seem to be moving at a snails pace. Rajkumar, Jai singh, Harmesh Malhotra, and Pradeep Awasthi, who are employed at companies based out of Manesar noted that there was an epic, twenty day long delay in simply preparing the traffic report for the period of daily traffic in Pachgaon.

Prerequisites for the construction of the toll plaza include preparing two to three months worth of construction groundwork. If things continue on the current trajectory, it seems exceedingly unlikely that the toll plaza will be fully functional for the people of Pachgaon within the next six months. NHAI does not seem to be ready to accept the fact that the Kherki Daula toll plaza is severely impacting the sectors 37 and 34, Kadipur, Basai and also the IMT Manesar industrial area.