The good news: a big relief for people passing through the toll plaza, this facility will be launched in three months
Corona has decided to give some relief to the ongoing mini lockdown in the state following the transition. The state will have a partial lockdown from tomorrow till May 27. As a result, traders will be able to keep their shops open from 9 am to 3 pm. This was announced by the Chief Minister in Pipavav. However, night curfews will remain in place in 36 cities.
All types of manufacturing / industrial units will continue
It has been decided to continue all types of manufacturing / industrial units and raw material supplying units for the purpose of continuing manufacturing activities and industries in the state and not causing any inconvenience to the workers, transportation for their staff will continue. In the meantime, strictly follow the COVID-19 guidelines. Construction related activities will continue during which COVID-19 related guidelines will have to be strictly followed.
Closing malls and commercial complexes from educational institutions.
The state government has also instructed the bank management to ensure that the supply of money in ATMs is maintained during this period. All kinds of malls besides educational institutes and coaching centers (except online education), cinema theaters, auditoriums, assembly halls, water parks, public gardens, amusement parks, salons, spas, beauty parlors, gyms, swimming pools throughout the state during this period. And commercial complexes will be closed.
The central government is going to bring a new policy for toll plazas in the next three months. Under this policy GPS based tracking toll system will be set up at toll plazas. Union Minister for Roads, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said this on Wednesday. Addressing the annual meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Gadkari said GPS-based tracking toll technology was not available in the country at present.
The Ministry is currently developing this technology in India. In March this year, Gadkari announced that by completely abolishing toll booths in India, a full GPS-based toll collection facility would be launched by this year.
Efforts to reduce costs on steel and cement in road construction
Gadkari also asked the road construction companies to try to use a minimum amount of cement and steel while paving the road. This will greatly reduce the cost of road construction. Gadkari further said that cement and steel sellers are doing factionalism across the country. To address this, he has asked consultants to come up with a roadmap that can reduce both the consumption and cost of cement and steel during road construction.
During Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Gadkari said, "I assure you all that toll booths across the country will be completely abolished within a year." This means that toll collection will now be done by GPS. Money will be deducted from vehicles through GPS imaging.
How will toll be deducted from GPS based system?
Earlier in December 2020, Gadkari had said that a new GPS-based system would be introduced for toll collection. The help of Russian experts is also being sought for this. Under this system, the toll amount will be automatically deducted from the vehicle owner's account or e-wallet based on the total distance traveled by them. He also said that the new passenger and commercial vehicles have the facility of Global Positioning System (GPS). The government will look for ways to install it in older vehicles as well.
