The ill-planned order by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to block 24 lanes of the 32 lanes in the Sirhaul toll plaza on Friday may just become a common scene till May 26 if no co-ordination is seen between the highway authorities, expressway operator and Delhi and Gurgaon Traffic police. The block, which was implemented by the Millennium City Expressways Private Ltd (MCEPL) — the firm that operates the expressway — had left lakhs of commuters stranded on NH-8 for over four hours. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered that the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway be made an eight-lane road at the place where the toll plaza used to be. Here, the expressway currently expands to 32 lanes. On Friday, without informing the Traffic police or the highway authority, MCEPL barricaded 24 lanes which resulted in the gridlock. Sources said before the next hearing on May 26, MCEPL will continue to open only eight lanes (on each side) connecting to the main carriageway. [related-post] Justifying the move, an MCEPL official said, “Once the Sirhaul toll plaza is razed completely, only eight lanes will be operational on the expressway.” The official also said that Friday’s exercise of barricading lanes was carried out to “keep the lane-width consistent”. MCEPL CEO S Raghuraman also said commuters will have to get used to lane-driving. Sources said Gurgaon and Delhi Traffic police, MCEPL and the NHAI project director will meet next Thursday or Friday to decide when the trials will be conducted after proper announcements. “Presence of enforcement authorities is a must. Taking a lesson from Friday, it is important that permanent deployment of traffic police is taken care of,” Raghuraman said.
