Manesar Toll

I hope this is not a good news  for clients who have bought or willing to buy any property near Manesar.

Haryana government has decided not to shift toll plaza from Kherki Daula to Bilaspur.

Despite highways ministry's objection to the state's proposal to connect a new highway (NH-236) with the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway about 500 metres before the Kherki Dhaula toll plaza, Haryana has reiterated that there is no alternative to this alignment.

The state submitted at a high-level meeting held at the road transport and highways ministry on Thursday that it would not shift the joining point of the new NH beyond the toll plaza. The meeting was attended by senior officials, including DG (Road) RP Indoria and Haryana town and country planning secretary K K Jalan.

The NH-236, which is now only 8km long and has four lanes, will be extended to about 18km. The extension takes off from the Delhi-Gurgaon border on MG Road. It will touch Gurgaon-Faridabad road and Sohna Road before joining the Expressway.

"We have submitted our plan with the proposal that the new highway will join the expressway before toll plaza," said Haryana PWD chief engineer Mahesh Kumar. Ministry officials said Jalan has also told them that they would not make any amendment to their plan at any cost.

The new highway would be funded by the highways ministry and it would be built on a cash contract. "After commuters travel 18km on a state funded road, we can't force them to pay a huge fee for using only 500 metres of the expressway. It will be criminal to allow such a thing to happen," said a senior ministry official.

Ministry officials added that the state government representatives have told them that joining NH-236 beyond the Kherki Dhaula toll plaza could amount to violation of an agreement with the expressway developer, which restricts both the NHAI and the state from creating any competing road facility. "But we told them that this issue could be dealt with by the ministry and they should not be worried. So, now they have a new argument that there is no land available to shift the alignment," said a senior official of the highways ministry.

Sources said the state government was coming up with new arguments as the ministry was opposed to its plan. "They even came up with a suggestion that the ministry could construct an elevated stretch from the NH-236 joining point beyond the toll plaza. Will that not mean violating the agreement? We have asked them to reconsider the plan for larger public interest," said an official.

The ministry has also told the state government that it would acquire the necessary land in case it agrees to shift the joining point of the new NH.