From April, pay toll tax to use NH 25
February 24, 2008
Lucknow, February 24 Planning to take the Lucknow-Kanpur highway? Get ready to pay for a smooth driving experience. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is all set to introduce toll tax for the 48-km Lucknow-Unnao stretch on NH 25 by April this year. It will set up a toll tax booth just before Nawabganj.
NHAI officials said the recommendation in this regard has already been sent to the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways and a notification is expected within a month.
The toll tax may be charged at reduced rates initially, they added.
“A toll plaza is generally set up at an interval of 70-80 km on the highway. But a railway overbridge in Unnao on Lucknow-Kanpur stretch is yet to be completed. So, the toll may be reduced proportionately,” said M K Jain, Project Director of NHAI.
The proposed site (near Nawabganj) for the toll plaza suggests that commuters coming from Lucknow to Unnao and Kanpur will have to pay the tax.
“Similarly, the people coming from Kanpur to Lucknow will also have to pay the toll. But, people travelling from Lucknow to Banthara or from Kanpur to Unnao would be saved from the tax,” an official said.
The proposed toll site, however, may be changed after the ROB in Unnao is completed.
While cars, jeeps and vans will have to pay a tax of around Rs 25, trucks and buses will be charged around Rs 95.
“The toll tax is calculated for 12 am to 11.59 pm for one-side trip. If a commuter has to return on the same day, he will have to shell out about one-and-a-half times of the toll rate,” a NHAI official said.
“For daily commuters, the NHAI can issue monthly passes,” he added.
According to NHAI norms, VIPs, defence vehicles, police vehicles, fire-fighting vehicles, ambulances, funeral vans, posts and telegraphs department vehicles will not have pay toll tax.
This will be the second highway after NH 2 in the state on which toll tax will be introduced.
“According to government policy, NHAI will set up toll plaza as soon a particular highway stretch is completed. And these are going to stay, so that NHAI could carry out maintenance and upgradation works effectively,” another official said.
Source: expressindia.com
Express highway project delayed due to departmental blockades
December 17, 2007
Lucknow, December 16 Even though the state government has started a number of road projects in the last six months, Amar Shaheed Path Express Highway, proposed and inaugurated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpaee, still has a long way to go. Even after six years since its construction was started, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) could only finish 75 per cent of the work. The project was inaugurated on September 22, 2001 with a stipulated deadline of 36 months. However, due to various constraints, the road project work progressed at a snail’s pace.
A senior NHAI official said they had to face various hurdles like land acquisition and clearances from various government organisations, etc.
“It took us long to get clearances for constructing railway overbridges from the railway authorities. At some places, the land acquisition delayed the work. The authorities were not supportive,” he said.
Talking to The Indian Express, Deputy General Manager (technical), NHAI, J S Parmar said all bottlenecks have been removed and remaining work is expected to be over by June 2008.
“There were certain problems but they have been resolved. Of the total three overbridges falling in way of the highway, one is completed and work on other two will start soon. Left out road stretches would also be completed,” he said.
He added land acquisition or getting clearances were not the only reasons for the delay. “The project was revised a few times after work started. Like, two underpasses and 1.5-km-long viaduct near Gomti Nagar were added subsequently,” Parmar said.
Besides, the NHAI officials blame the contractor of the project, Atlanta Ltd, for slow progress of work. “We held meetings with them and asked them to carry out project in time. We also warned them if they didn’t work efficiently, their license will be cancelled. The work is going smoothly at the moment,” said another NHAI official.
The 22-km-long highway connects NH-25 (Lucknow-Kanpur) and NH-28 (Lucknow-Faizabad) via NH-56 (Lucknow-Sultanpur) passing through the city. “The highway will act as an outer ring road. It may not directly benefit local commuters, but traffic congestion will reduce on city roads. The heavy vehicles or the commuters going to Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, Faizabad and Kanpur could travel on it without entering the city. Only a few important crossings have been left on the highway so that the vehicles do not get slowed down, causing jams,” said Parmar.