The assurances given from time to time to ease traffic flow at Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway toll plaza remain just tall claims. Non-tagged traffic continues to enter the lanes meant exclusively for vehicles that have paid up in advance to avoid stoppage at the 32-lane toll plaza. 
And with little increase in the share of tagged vehicles in the past one year, the nightmare has intensified. 
With both Gurgaon and Delhi Police yet to come out with a notification to discipline errant commuters, the concessionaire of this 27.7km stretch, DSC Ltd, claims that it has written to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to impose penalty on the violators. 
Though Gurgaon traffic police claims that it has been challaning the ‘erring’ commuters, there’s no data to support the argument. 
In the absence of clear rule, sources say it’s difficult to fine the ‘offenders’. ‘‘There has to be a gazette notification by the NHAI to make this possible. The enforcement responsibility lies with Delhi and Haryana governments in their respective jurisdictions as there is a tri-party agreement among the two states and NHAI for smooth functioning of the expressway,’’ said an NHAI official. 
He added that giving authority to a private player to penalize violators may result in harassment for commuters. ‘‘As traffic police personnel fine people for violating lanes in Delhi, why can’t they do it at toll plazas? Here also the violators take wrong lanes,’’ the official pointed out. 
However, Satinder Gupta, DCP (traffic) of Gurgaon police points out how chaotic it becomes when they start challaning violators at plazas. ‘‘The traffic will pile up. NHAI must find a solution like imposing fine,’’ he said. 
What has added to the mess is that the share of tagged vehicles has remained only 35%-40%, which is far less than the desired share on any expressway to make it a non-stop stretch. Last year, the concessionaire had made a written submission to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) that the waiting time in cash lanes can be reduced to five minutes only if 70% of the vehicles convert to tag mode. 
‘‘The developer had agreed to push the sale of tags to reduce the waiting time at plazas. It seems that has not happened and this is also contributing to the vehicles piling up at toll plazas,’’ said an NHAI official. 
On its part, DSC says that it has also installed signages at points leading up to cash and tag lanes, created lane demarcations and deployed additional traffic marshals to guide the vehicles. 
Even an LCD signage, that was put up last October, ahead of the toll plazas warning vehicles from entering the wrong lanes didn’t make much difference.
Times View 
It is ridiculous that something as simple as making a tag line work at a toll booth has not been fixed for so long. While we are no experts in traffic management, we can think of at least two methods that can be used to fix this problem. One, the company managing the toll could be authorised to impose a penal toll on all non-tagged vehicles passing through the tag line — say, a flat Rs 50, if not Rs 100. Two, traffic police could be posted there for a fortnight or so and given the mandate to impose steep fines on those violating lane discipline. These are just off-the-cuff suggestions; the authorities may have better ideas. What’s important is that something must be done to get rid of the problem once and for all.

Source: epaper-The Times of India