Noida authority allows shifting MCD toll booth on DND

To reduce congestion on the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway, the Noida authority has given its go-ahead for shifting South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (SDMC) toll collection booths to the defunct DND toll plaza.

At present, MCD toll and environment compensation cess (ECC) are collected over a kilometre ahead of the DND toll plaza, towards Delhi. This causes congestion on the four-lane stretch from Noida to Delhi as commercial vehicles paying the toll and ECC occupy almost two lanes of the stretch.

In comparison, there are 16 lanes at the erstwhile DND toll plaza for movement of vehicles from Noida to Delhi and this can be used for toll collection, officials said. The DND Flyway has eight lanes (four-lane dual carriageway) for two-way vehicular movement.

Noida authority’s officer on special duty, Rajesh Singh, said, “We have given a no-objection certificate to SDMC for shifting toll booths to the DND toll plaza. They have been told to ensure that shifting of toll booths to the DND toll plaza does not interfere with the high court’s directions.”

Noida authority gave its assent at a high-level meeting held between the officials of the Noida authority and Delhi government.

Two to three lanes on the left-hand side of the toll plaza, from Noida to Delhi, will be reserved for the purpose and the arrangements are likely to be finalised in a couple of days, officials said.

SDMC has already put up four porta cabins about a hundred metres ahead of the DND toll plaza for collecting the municipal and environmental taxes.

Until October 26, 2016, MCD toll and ECC were collected at one of the booths of the DND toll plaza on the Delhi-Noida border by the concessionaire, NTBCL, on dedicated lanes.

With the Allahabad high court order scrapping toll collection on the DND Flyway by the concessionaire following a petition by the federation of Noida residents’ welfare associations (FONRWA) that the concessionaire had already made profits after recovering construction costs, operations at the toll were stopped and the MCD toll collection booth had to be moved from the toll plaza.

Since the DND toll was scrapped, commuters have been facing congestion near the MCD toll plaza. The problem gets compounded in the night when there is a movement of heavy transport vehicles on the DND Flyway.

FONRWA’s secretary-general, AN Dhawan, said the issue must be resolved between the Delhi government and Noida authority sooner than later. “It has been over a year that commuters have been facing inconvenience due to the MCD toll booth on DND Flyway. Ideally, the toll booth should be in Delhi. But, if in the larger interest of the commuters, the two parties have agreed upon shifting it to the erstwhile DND toll plaza, it must be implemented soon.”