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Flash floods triggered by incessant overnight rainfall damaged the Doda-Kishtwar highway on Monday, disrupted vehicular traffic and buried several vehicles near the under-construction 540 MW Kwar Hydroelectric Power Project in the hilly districts of Doda and Kishtwar. Huge quantities of mud, boulders and debris was deposited on the highway following the flash floods. Officials said that a portion of the highway was damaged, forcing the suspension of traffic. Several vehicles parked along the roadside at Prem Nagar were trapped in the flood debris. However, no loss of life or injuries were reported, they said. Road clearance and restoration work has been launched by authorities, while commuters have been advised to avoid the highway and follow official traffic advisories until the route is reopened. In neighbouring Kishtwar district, heavy rainfall also triggered a major landslide and mudslide near the tunnel area of the under-construction 540 MW Kwar hydroelectric power ...
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday announced the launch of India's first Multi-Lane Free Flow barrier-less tolling system at the Chorayasi Toll Plaza on the Surat-Bharuch section of NH-48 in Gujarat, marking a big shift in highway tolling. Gadkari, in a social media post on X, said the state-of-the-art system enables seamless toll collection without requiring vehicles to stop, using advanced technologies such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and FASTag. The highways minister noted that the introduction of Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) marks a major milestone in the digitisation of India's tolling ecosystem and the modernisation of National Highway infrastructure in line with global standards. The system is expected to significantly reduce travel time, decongest highways, improve fuel efficiency, lower vehicular emissions, and minimise human intervention in toll operations, he added. Gadkari stated that barrier-less tolling will enhance 'ease of living' for citizens an
A bus carrying pilgrims overturned into a ditch on the BareillyHaridwar highway early Wednesday, leaving a woman dead and over 20 injured, police said. The bus carrying 54 residents of Bareilly was returning from a religious tour in Uttarakhand when the accident occurred around 3:20 am between Nisra and Sardar Nagar villages. Jehanabad Station House Officer (SHO) Pradeep Bishnoi told reporters that a 22-year-old woman identified as Durga died on the spot. The injured were rushed to the Jehanabad Community Health Centre (CHC), from where eight critically injured passengers were referred to the district hospital. Eyewitness Shekhar told police that the driver appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. The bus had suffered three punctures during the journey, and while negotiating a turn at high speed, the driver lost control, causing the vehicle to plunge into a roadside ditch. Locals and police teams launched a rescue operation and shifted the injured to nearby hospitals. A ca