TIMES NEWS NETWORK, Aug 19, 2010

New Delhi: Commuters can expect permanent relief from congestion at Badarpur border from October. The underconstruction 4km-long flyover at the border will be opened for public in October first week.

Talking to Times City, Vinayak Deshpande, president and COO of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), which is building the flyover, said, ‘‘We don’t want to open the elevated stretch until all work is completed. We want to open a safe flyover.’’ He added that though the deadline for the project is December 2010, the company wanted to warp it up by October 1.

In fact, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had brought it under the list of projects related to Commonwealth Games for speedy implementation of the elevated corridor. ‘‘It will be ready just ahead of the Games,’’ claimed a senior NHAI official. HCC is constructing the corridor under BOT (toll) model — it will maintain and collect toll for 20 years.

The Badarpur-Faridabad six-lane elevated highway is being built at a cost of Rs 340 crore. Earlier, NHAI officials had told highway minister Kamal Nath that the two main carriageways could be made operational by August-end. However, Deshpande said it would not be desirable to open the stretch without completing the finishing work.

Responding to how the concessionaire is gearing up to manage traffic flow through the two main toll plazas, Deshpande said it would opt for electronic tolling system for non-stop traffic flow of tagged vehicles. ‘‘We will dedicate certain lanes for uninterrupted clearance of vehicles. We are considering the sale of tags at toll plazas and also at petrol pumps in the nearby region so that it becomes more popular among daily users,’’ he said.

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