Urging the Centre to act, NHAI said that if the ministry did not consider the NHAI option, it should ensure the project is handed over to the Haryana government. In any event, the Centre should not spend more time on litigation that is dragging on.

In a sharp indictment of the Haryana government, NHAI told road secretary Vijay Chhibber that while Haryana government exploits the expressway link to generate revenues, it has done little to reduce the load on the highway.

“It is the responsibility of the state government to provide connectivity across the national highway without interfering with the highway traffic,” the NHAI said. But instead of improving infrastructure, Haryana has pursued sought added NHAI investment.

Officials told TOI that Haryana government has been glacial when it has come to implementing its promises. Neither the state government or the legal process was anywhere near providing a solution.

NHAI chief in his letter said the chaos on Gurgaon expressway is due to the linear development in the millennium city where large scale land use has been changed to maximize revenue. He has said that Gurgaon’s Master Plan should have provided for lateral arterial roads instead of using NH-8 as the main artery.

The letter echoes what Delhi-Gurgaon commuters and travelers within Gurgaon experience – the highway is one of the main conduits of intra-city commuting as underpasses, over bridges and linking roads have not been developed. Plans for an alternate Delhi-Gurgaon road are also gathering dust.

NHAI said it has written that Haryana government looks towards NHAI for even construction of foot over bridges (FOBs) and maintaining drains. “This is not the concept under which the highways are supposed to be developed and maintained,” the letter says.

Singh has said that Haryana has been pushing for creating additional facilities such as flyover at Hero Honda Chowk, FOBs, crossing facilities between Rajiv Chowk and Kherki Dhaula, which are not highway facilities but conveniences for town residents.

The NHAI chairman has also pointed to “reckless” lending by IDFC and four other public sector banks, who without regard to the termination payment, gave a Rs 1,600 crore loan on account of refinancing.

Singh mentioned that NHAI and the Centre had signed an agreement on September 18, 2012, with the concessionaire only with the view to protect interests of public sector banks. He claimed that despite NHAI walking an extra mile the lenders “do not seem to be bothered at all and are still behaving in an irresponsible manner.”

Singh points out that the developer and lenders are raising extraneous issues and diverting attention from the main issue of violation of the latest MoU that was negotiated under court supervision. By not implementing its terms, the concessionaire can be in contempt of the Delhi High Court. The case, he said, has made no progress in the last six months.

NHAI said that if Haryana does not want to take over the project, the Centre can consider giving about Rs 1.8 crore revenue per month – the amount that the authority gets as its revenue share from toll.

DGSCL failed to open a single sale point for smart cards along the expressway. The concessionaire was required to promote the sale of smart cards by making it available at petrol pumps and other convenient places along the expressway. It has been able to issue just 18,000 smart cards since last October.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the highway authority and the concessionaire, signed in September, 2012, has made it obligatory for DGSCL to introduce touch card technology on the toll plazas. Later, following an order of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Gurgaon police had suggested opening of outlets for selling smart cards at vantage points along the expressway to popularize it. The concessionaire opened one such sale point near the 32-lane toll plaza.

Now, this has also been shut and smart cards are only available at the three toll plazas of the expressway.

The drive to penalize cash users entering in the tag lanes also failed to take off. Out of 32 lanes, eight are earmarked for electronic tag users. But, the facility rendered useless with cash users also using this lane. In such a scenario, tag users are also made to wait in queues.

DGSCL has so far issued 1,37, 973 tags, out of which 1,23,006 are active, revealed an RTI reply given to a city resident Aseem Takyar.

A DGSCL spokesperson said, “Tag users are not able to get the benefit of a smooth passage as cash users deliberately get into tag lanes. This is one of the biggest reasons for congestion at the toll plaza. Ideally waiting time in tag lanes should be minimal if only tag users use the tag lane.”

“However, when cash in tag lane violation is high, the transaction rates in these “mixed” lanes, where cash users also enter tag lanes, sometimes dips to levels even lesser than the transaction rates of cash lanes. This is clearly a driving discipline issue that can only be resolved by challaning the errant cash drivers who enter the tag lane. Since as a concessionaire, we do not have the authority to challan such errant vehicles, we had written to the NHAI to give us the rights to challan such errant vehicles. As that did not happen, we have repeatedly requested the traffic police to step in as they have the authority to challan cash users who enter tag lanes. This needs to be done on regular basis,” the spokesperson added.

When contacted, joint commissioner of police (traffic) Bharti Arora said, “There is no such rule in Motor Vehicle Act to challan motorists for entering tag lanes. But, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the concessionaire can fix a penalty for this.”

Source –http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

While agreeing that the concessionaire, Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd (DGSCL), hardly receive any calls on SOS booths and stated that commuters prefer calling in directly on the toll free number and the other two helpline numbers from their mobile phones.

There are 26  DGSCL booths along the expressway.

The booths have remained out of the order for most of the time since its installation on account of vandalism and not being repaired by DGSCL. The Friday visit was no difference. The booths were out of order there was no response from them

.

The RTI applicant, Aseem Takyar, had sought reply from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) about the total number of complaints, requests for SOS service in the last one year. NHAI stated that no complaint, requests were received. The authorities, however, added that more information is being obtained from the concessionaire.

NHAI said through the SOS helpline any service/help can be obtained from the corridor control of the concessionaire. As per the concessionaire agreement, the concessionaire is also required to provide medical room, first aid material in ambulance. There are four ambulances deployed by the concessionaire.

A DGSCL spokesperson said, “In case of any breakdowns or accidents, commuters prefer to call in from their cell phones directly at the toll free numbers that are mentioned along the expressway and on the toll receipt. They can call in at the toll free number 1800-103-1700 or at 9717890175 and 0124-2450800.”

More than a 100 calls are received every day on the toll free number and another 25-30 calls are received on the other two numbers which our corridor control teams respond to speedily, added the spokesperson.

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DGSCL yet to receive NHAI notice

The DGSCL is yet to receive the notice issued by the NHAI regional office issued on Monday. NHAI office issued notice to the concessionaire directing it to immediately take up the road repair work of the expressway and service lanes. A DGSCL spokesperson stated Friday that the concessionaire has not yet received the notice. However, we would be responding to it as soon as we receive it. The maintenance of service roads on the expressway is also part of the matter being heard by the Delhi High Court where the matter is sub judice and would be next heard by the court in July.

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An RTI application was filed seeking information from the NHAI about the total number of complaints/ requests for the SOS service

There are 26 SOS booths along the expressway

The booths are out of the order since its installation on account of vandalism, neglect

Commuters prefer calling in directly on the toll free numbers displayed on the route. There are three numbers 1800-103-1700 or at 9717890175 and 0124-2450800.”

More than 100 calls are received every day on the toll free number

Chamaraja MLA Vasu and Mysore Chamber of Commerce & Industry team met the minister and submitted a memorandum, seeking improved connectivity to Mysore. They urged him to connect Mysore to Malavalli so that travellers between Mysore and Bangalore have an alternative route. This is because, NH-209, that connects Bangalore to Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, passes through Malavalli. They claimed that the stretch between Mysore and Malavalli is a missing link.

In his petition, Vasu has pointed out that Mysore is missed out from NHs’ network though two busiest highways – NH-212 and NH-209 — pass close to it. “People have been demanding that NHs provide connectivity to Mysore,” he said.

The minister said that projects in Karnataka are in focus, and connectivity is his main concern. “But the problem is land acquisition,” he said, adding that NH projects will be hastened following a clarification from the apex court that roadside trees do not require environment clearance.