Minister writes to Centre requesting temporary toll exemption during Sankranti

With lakhs of people expected to travel during the upcoming Sankranti festival, the Telangana government has put in place an extensive action plan to ensure smooth traffic movement on national highways, particularly the busy Hyderabad–Vijayawada corridor.

Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy chaired a high-level review meeting at Dr B.R. Ambedkar State Secretariat to finalise preventive measures, keeping in view past experiences of severe traffic congestion.

Addressing officials, the Minister directed that all departments must be on duty for three days before and three days after the festival, and heavy vehicles should be restricted from using highways during peak festive travel days.

A special incident management and control room will be set up, with 108 ambulances, medical teams, revenue officials, police, R&B and NHAI staff placed on continuous alert.

Mr Venkat Reddy announced that he would personally monitor the situation by touring the highways on a motorcycle and conduct field inspections at critical congestion points such as Toopranpet and Abdullapurmet.

He instructed officials to ensure that there are no hour-long traffic snarls on the Hyderabad–Vijayawada highway, which witnesses nearly one lakh vehicle movements per day during the festival season.

The Minister also revealed that he has written to Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, requesting temporary toll exemption during Sankranti, as lakhs of people would be travelling during the festival and also for the Medaram Jatara. He said he was prepared to meet the Union Minister personally, if required.

“If necessary, the R&B Department is ready to make nominal payments at toll plazas to ensure free flow of traffic,” he said.

Officials were instructed to halt lane closures, road works involving heavy machinery and construction activity during peak festive days, and to carry out unavoidable works only at night when traffic is minimal.

Special attention will be paid to congestion-prone stretches such as LB Nagar–Vanasthalipuram, Panama Godown, Hayathnagar, Ramoji Film City, and areas like Choutuppal, Narketpally, Kattangur, Peddakaparthy, Gundrampally and Tekumatla.

The review meeting was attended by R&B Special Chief Secretary Vikas Raj, Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri Collector Hanumanth Rao, Nalgonda Collector Ila Tripathi among others.