Gurgaon | Citizen Forum

The Hindustan Times dated the 1st of December carried an article on the ongoing tussle between DGSCL (the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway toll operator) and the industrialists in Udyog Vihar and residents of localities nearby, on the use of the service road that connects Udyog Vihar to NH 8.

What is interesting is that this road that is the bone of contention, is an old road that existed long before the toll plaza came up, and the solution being proposed is to build a toll plaza on this road as well, so that users do not have to travel around Udyog Vihar to get to the Toll plaza gates.

The toll operator of course cannot accept there being no toll gates, as they believe this will amount to ‘revenue leakage’.

Revenue leakage!! This is an existing city road, that too a National Highway. If the residents of localities just next to this road need access, why should they be made to pay Toll for using pretty much the same road as before? Next, the Toll Operator will want to put a toll plaza at the Rajokri entry, claiming revenue leakage, and at every exit in Gurgaon before Kheri Daula (IFFCO Chowk, Signature Tower and beyond), making the same claim.

But wait, there was never a toll for private vehicles at the Delhi-Gurgaon border before. This is basic intercity connectivity that has been provided to the residents of Delhi and Gurgaon. Unlike the Noida DND that was a new shorter and faster connection into Noida, this was an existing road (one of only two mind you) connecting the two cities that was made into an expressway.

Tomorrow, if the Ring Road in Delhi is made signal free, would it be acceptable to charge toll? Without having created an alternate route, something that is optional and better than what existed prior to it, how is it acceptable to charge a premium for something which is a basic requirement?

If toll must be charged, it must be charged when you exit Gurgaon, and not at the Kherki Daula toll plaza, the Kherki Daula toll plaza was brought forward to charge the folks traveling to Manesar, while originally the toll location was further away at Bilaspur.

Besides, considering the volumes of traffic that have crossed the toll gates since inception, significantly more than any growth projections that were initially planned, can the administration review the toll collections to date, and when compared to what the planned projections should have been at the end of the Build-Operate-Transfer period, review whether the planned date for the transfer back to a non-toll state can be brought forward?

Of course, the unfortunate off shoot of the toll plaza at the Delhi Gurgaon border has been that apparently all city traffic is being funneled towards it by keeping all other connecting roads in a pathetic state of repairs;
- The Old Delhi road has not been widened or made free of obstructions to take on some load and reduce the traffic jams at the toll plaza.
- The new roads referred to every now and then, Dwarka Expressway, Vasant Kunj to DLF Phase 3, MG Road to the Gurgaon Faridabad Road have not seen the light of day, despite years having elapsed since the idea was first mooted.

Makes you wonder what incentives exist that would cause the city administration to drive traffic volumes to the toll plaza that is all clogged up.

Well, what else can be done to make the ride to Gurgaon better? If we cannot build new roads to Gurgaon and if the Toll Plaza has to stay, can the administration at least look at strengthening/widening the existing roads that can take off some of the traffic volumes?
- There is an existing road that runs from the Gurgaon Railway station all the way up to Bijwasan, along the tracks, but has the last 2 KM missing. If this road connection can be repaired and the last mile connectivity to the Dwarka Link road be made, it will help residents on this side of Gurgaon and significantly reduce traffic jams at the Toll Plaza.
- The Old Delhi road desperately needs widening and to be made at least partially bottleneck free.

New roads – While the Dwarka Expressway is stuck in litigation, the bit from Dwarka that would provide connectivity to Udyog Vihar and Cyber City is litigation free as there are no existing houses on this stretch. Can at least this bit of the road be built in the interim till such time the court case is resolved? This exit to Udyog Vihar is part of the original plan and besides interim relief, it will help ensure the larger project is on track. This would also provide relief to residents of the new sectors whose houses are getting delayed due to lack of civic infrastructure.

Thoughts?