2nd toll plaza on National Highway-5 to be set up between Kaithlighat, Sakral
A second toll plaza on the Parwanoo-Shimla stretch of the National Highway-5, which is being widened to four lanes, will be set up between Kaithlighat and Sakral. The first toll plaza was set up at Sanwara on the Parwanoo-Solan stretch of the highway, which was widened to four lanes in 2021. The work to widen the 22.91-km Solan-Kaithlighat road stretch is underway and is likely to be completed next year.
Meanwhile, commuters have decried the plan to set up another toll barrier on the highway. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is executing the work.
Work to start after widening of road
A toll barrier cannot be erected under a contract on the engineering, procurement and construction basis. Another toll plaza will be set up on the Kaithlighat-Sakral road stretch after the widening work on it is completed. Barely 25 per cent of the 17.46 km road stretch has been widened to four lanes. The Rs 1,844-crore road project will decongest Shimla. Anand Dahiya, PROJECT DIRECTOR, NHAI, SHIMLA
An NHAI official says that the work on the Solan-Kaithlighat road stretch is being done in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode while the work on the Kaithlighat-Sakral road stretch is being executed in the the build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode. Under the BOT contract, a private entity has the right to design, construct, own and operate a project but is required to transfer it back to the public entity after a set time period. A toll barrier cannot be erected under a contract on the EPC basis, says Anand Dahiya, Project Director, NHAI, Shimla.
He says that another toll plaza will be set up on the Kaithlighat-Sakral road stretch after the widening work on it is completed. Barely 25 per cent of the 17.46 km road stretch has been widened to four lanes. The Rs 1,844-crore road project will decongest Shimla.
Commuters coming from Chandigarh have to pay toll near Pinjore and a fee at an inter-state barrier set up by the State Taxes and Excise Department. The capital city faces immense traffic influx, especially during the peak tourist season, which not only increases the journey time but fuel consumption also goes up. The project is scheduled to be completed by March 2027.
The Shimla bypass, which will reduce the distance between Kaithlighat and Dhalli from 40.1 km to 28.4 km, is divided into two packages: Kaithlighat-Shakral (17.46 km) and Shakral-Dhalli (10.98 km). Four tunnels of 3.7 km length will be constructed on this section, besides 18 big bridges and 53 box culverts. Meanwhile, the highway widening project, which was started from Parwanoo in September 2015, is yet to be completed.
