Latest news with #VUmashankar
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Toll Booth Removal: Delhi to Eliminate Physical Toll Booths at Borders with New Tech Implementation, ET Infra
Advt Advt In a move that could reduce, if not end, the long queues at the Capital's borders, agencies including Delhi govt, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the road transport ministry on Friday unanimously agreed to remove physical booths on the highways to collect entry fee and green cess from commercial a meeting chaired by Union road transport secretary V Umashankar, it was decided to have Multi-Lane Free Flow (MMLF) toll and entry fee collection system with MCD stating that completely doing away with entry tax would cause revenue loss of around Rs 800 crore annually and severely dent its finances, sources MMLF is deployed, vehicles will not have to stop as overhead cameras across the lanes can read the vehicle registration number and deduct the charge from FASTag wallet linked to the has learnt that there was also unanimity among all agencies to find a solution to the collection of Environment Compensation Cess (ECC) or green cess collected from heavy commercial vehicles entering Delhi at borders, which causes long traffic snarls on NHs and expressways connecting Delhi. The meeting was attended by officials including Delhi chief secretary Dharmendra and MCD commissioner Ashwini said while the municipal corporation has approached the Supreme Court seeking a single unified value for ECC, which would pave the way for integration of FASTag and MCD's RFID tags to collect the green tax and entry fee, Haryana govt has pleaded for stopping ECC collection altogether. They added that now NHAI will also approach the apex court seeking a similar relief citing that now two peripheral expressways are operational for vehicles that are not destined for said road transport minister Nitin Gadkari will soon chair a meeting to take stock of the plan and progress of getting rid of these traffic choke points at Delhi borders. Long traffic jams have become the new normal on NHs and expressways due to physical booths which have been put up for collection of entry fee and ECC at five points - Sirhaul, Ghazipur, Badarpur, Tikri and Kundli. While taxis and trucks are mandated to have a pre-paid instrument, drivers often avoid recharging them and end up paying cash, adding to the meeting also took stock of the progress of the plans to decongest Ashram-Badarpur section of NH-2 and plan for an elevated road from INA to Nelson Mandela Marg near Vasant Kunj and its extension to Gurgaon-Faridabad road. NHAI informed the meeting that the authority has invited bids for preparing detailed project reports for these two roads.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Physical toll booths at city borders to be removed
In a move that could reduce, if not end, the long queues at the Capital's borders, agencies including Delhi govt, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the road transport ministry on Friday unanimously agreed to remove physical booths on the highways to collect entry fee and green cess from commercial vehicles. At a meeting chaired by Union road transport secretary V Umashankar, it was decided to have Multi-Lane Free Flow (MMLF) toll and entry fee collection system with MCD stating that completely doing away with entry tax would cause revenue loss of around Rs 800 crore annually and severely dent its finances, sources said. Once MMLF is deployed, vehicles will not have to stop as overhead cameras across the lanes can read the vehicle registration number and deduct the charge from FASTag wallet linked to the vehicle. TOI has learnt that there was also unanimity among all agencies to find a solution to the collection of Environment Compensation Cess (ECC) or green cess collected from heavy commercial vehicles entering Delhi at borders, which causes long traffic snarls on NHs and expressways connecting Delhi. The meeting was attended by officials including Delhi chief secretary Dharmendra and MCD commissioner Ashwini Kumar. Officials said while the municipal corporation has approached the Supreme Court seeking a single unified value for ECC, which would pave the way for integration of FASTag and MCD's RFID tags to collect the green tax and entry fee, Haryana govt has pleaded for stopping ECC collection altogether. They added that now NHAI will also approach the apex court seeking a similar relief citing that now two peripheral expressways are operational for vehicles that are not destined for Delhi. Sources said road transport minister Nitin Gadkari will soon chair a meeting to take stock of the plan and progress of getting rid of these traffic choke points at Delhi borders. Long traffic jams have become the new normal on NHs and expressways due to physical booths which have been put up for collection of entry fee and ECC at five points - Sirhaul, Ghazipur, Badarpur, Tikri and Kundli. While taxis and trucks are mandated to have a pre-paid instrument, drivers often avoid recharging them and end up paying cash, adding to the chaos. The meeting also took stock of the progress of the plans to decongest Ashram-Badarpur section of NH-2 and plan for an elevated road from INA to Nelson Mandela Marg near Vasant Kunj and its extension to Gurgaon-Faridabad road. NHAI informed the meeting that the authority has invited bids for preparing detailed project reports for these two roads.
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Govt rolls out initiatives to curb road crashes in 100 districts
NEW DELHI: The govt has identified 100 districts reporting high number of road crashes and has rolled out ' Data Driven Hyperlocal Intervention (DDHI)' to undertake measures to curb crashes and deaths. The districts are spread across 18 states — the highest (19) is in Maharashtra, followed by 18 in Uttar Pradesh and 11 in Karnataka — based on the integrated road accident data collected since 2021. The DDHI has been conceptualised by the Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) at IIT-Madras. While most road crashes are attributed to human error, a significant proportion is due to localised challenges. Districts have been prioritised for intervention to address these challenges. 'This initiative will adopt a bottom-up approach, empowering District Road Safety Councils (DRSCs), led by their respective chairpersons, to lead decision-making and implementation. The DDHI framework empowers councils to design targeted interventions tailored to district-specific road conditions, behavioural patterns, and geographical constraints,' an official statement issued by the CoERS said. Addressing the launch event, Union road transport secretary V Umashankar said just policy decisions in Delhi can't bring down the number of crashes and deaths. Interventions have to be made at the district level, he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like बैंगलोर में बिक्री के लिए विला (कीमतें जांचें) Villas for Sale in Benglore Undo 'Expensive solutions are always not the best solutions,' he said, highlighting the need for better analysis of the exact cause of crashes and required interventions. The DDHI programme will involve building capacity and capability within selected districts; empowering district leadership to identify and implement critical road safety interventions; enabling sustainable, low-cost, high-impact solutions that are community-informed and data-backed; and establishing scientific impact assessment and review mechanism for the interventions taken up.
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
IIT Madras launches data-driven road safety push in 100 high-risk districts
CHENNAI: The Centre of Excellence for (CoERS) at has launched a programme to tackle road crashes in 100 accident-prone districts in 17 states. Supported by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), the initiative aims at delivering district-specific, evidence-based solutions under a structured 5E framework—engineering, enforcement, education, emergency care and empathy. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The programme was launched at an alignment session held in New Delhi on May 20 with participation from central and state govt officials, district representatives and road safety experts. According to official data, India recorded more than 4.6 lakh road accidents annually. While human error remains a primary cause, localised issues such as poor road design, inadequate enforcement and delayed emergency response also contribute significantly. The DDHI (Data-Driven Hyperlocal Intervention) programme aims at addressing these granular challenges. Unlike top-down national programmes, DDHI adopts a bottom-up approach, empowering (DRSCs) to develop and implement their own strategies based on data from the e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) and powered by the . Districts will use tools developed by CoERS such as the Sanjaya Dashboard for crash visualisation, Field Perception Survey (FPS) for hotspot mapping and Trauma Care Preparedness Level (TPL) app to assess emergency care infrastructure. Speaking at the event, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said, 'Real change happens when data empowers district authorities to act on accident spots.' MoRTH secretary V Umashankar said, 'Each accident has a story best understood at the local level. With actionable data, we can reduce preventable fatalities.' CoERS head Prof Venkatesh Balasubramanian said, 'Through this initiative, we aim to empower district leadership with practical tools and capacity-building support that integrate human factors and data driven interventions to deliver measurable improvements in road safety outcomes.". Periodic audits and measurable assessments will track effectiveness. Learnings from the programme will be documented for replication in other districts, creating a national repository of best practices.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Government to rank districts on road safety parameters
NEW DELHI: Taking a cue from the Swachhata ranking of cities, the govt will carry out ranking of districts on road safety parameters. Road transport minister on Thursday directed his ministry to work out the details for carrying out the exercise which will also determine the best and worst performers. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The minister issued this direction while chairing a day-long brainstorming session on road safety with officials from different ministries, state govts and experts. Sources said the ministry will work with the Niti Aayog to finalise the parameters. Gadkari also instructed officials to integrate 'safe school zone' while planning construction and expansion of roads. District road safety committees (DRSCs) will include this provision while evaluating any plan, sources said. DRSCs will play a crucial role in the implementation of the Centre's major schemes such as cashless treatment to road crash victims and giving financial rewards to good samaritans who take crash victims to hospitals for immediate medical care. Sources said responding to a suggestion on the need to have experts to assist DRSCs, road transport secretary V Umashankar said industry bodies such as CII and FICCI can extend their support.
