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A 100-metre stretch on the Yamunotri National Highway near Syanachatti here was damaged after a landslide triggered by incessant rains on Thursday, officials said. An area spanning roughly 1 km was affected by the debris of the landslide and traffic along the route is completely blocked, they said. Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer Shardul Gusain said a section of the road, about 100 metres long, was damaged at Syanachatti in the evening due to heavy rain and landslides. Vehicles bound for Yamunotri from Barkot have been stopped at Barkot, while those returning from Janki Chatti have been held back at Janki Chatti, he said. The official noted that between 80 and 120 pilgrims were present at Yamunotri Dham when the route was closed. About 100 of them were stopped at Janki Chatti. Gusain added that vehicles were halted at safe locations. He said if the weather clears up on Friday, the route will be restored as soon as possible. The official said teams from the ...
Cash payments at toll plazas will be discontinued for travellers on national highways from April 10, the road transport and highways ministry has said. In a gazette notification, the ministry has said that in cases where a vehicle enters a fee plaza without a valid FASTag, users can still pay via Unified Payment Interface (UPI), but at a higher charge of 1.25 times the applicable toll fee. A senior NHAI official said that the move is aimed at reducing long queues at toll gates and make highway travel smoother for commuters. The official said that cash payments will no longer be accepted at the toll booths from April 10 and FASTag will remain the primary mode of toll collection, while UPI will serve as the fallback payment option for vehicles that arrive without a valid FASTag. "If the user of a vehicle enters a fee plaza without a FASTag or a valid functional FASTag, as the case may be, and opts to pay fee through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), he shall pay 1.25 times of the
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was shut for traffic early Monday after heavy rains triggered multiple landslides and shooting stones from hillocks overlooking the arterial road in Ramban district, officials said. Traffic is plying normally on inter-regional roads -- Mughal and Sinthan roads -- and commuters are advised to follow lane discipline as overtaking will cause congestion, they said. "Jammu-Srinagar highway is closed due to shooting stones at several places. Heavy rains are going on along the highway. All types of vehicular movement have been stopped," an advisory of the J-K Traffic Police Department said. It further said commuters are advised not to travel until the weather improves and the road is cleared. Heavy rains have triggered landslides on the national highway near Sharda Mata temple in Udhampur district besides Monkey Morh and the Maroog area of Ramban district. Men and machines are working to clear the highway of blockades and make it trafficable, they sai
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the government's aim is to accelerate the pace of highway construction to 100 km a day from 38 km/day at present. Speaking at the Business Today India@100 event, Gadkari said so far this year, the road ministry has awarded highways projects worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore, and by March next year, it will award highways projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore. "Currently, the pace of National Highways construction in India is 38 km/day. We aim to accelerate the pace of highway construction to 100 km a day. This is our target, whether it will happen next year, I can not say," he said. The ministry constructed 10,660 km of national highways in 2024-25, 12,349 km in 2023-24 and 10,331 km in 2022-23. Responding to the growing concern over social media about E20, rolled out by the government, is damaging the vehicle and there is no reduction in fuel cost, Gadkari rejected the claim, saying that the petroleum sector is lobbying again
The construction of three out of four National Highways is in an advanced stage in Himachal Pradesh and major works would be completed in the next two years, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in Bilaspur on Saturday. About 2,593 km long, four National Highways are being constructed in the state at an estimated cost of about Rs 38,000 crore. Addressing reporters, Nadda also lashed out at the state government for not utilising the funds allocated by the Union government. "The construction of three NHs is in an advanced stage and major works would be completed in 2026 and 2027 while the project for which Detailed Project Report (DPR) is under preparation would be completed in 2028", he said. Barring the Shimla-Mator National Highway for which preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) is underway and completion is slated for 2028, the Parwanoo-Shimla, Kiratpur-Manali and Pathankot-Mandi National Highways would be completed in 2026 and 2027, he added. Nadda raised the issue of
SBI Life Insurance and Vidyaniti LLP on Monday bought a 4.25 per cent unit-holding in National Highways Infra Trust for Rs 1,100 crore through the open market transaction while NHAI divested 8.24 crore units in the Trust. A total of 8.24 crore units, representing a 4.25 per cent unit-holding, was acquired by both entities. According to the block deal data available on the NSE, SBI Life Insurance Company picked up more than 3.74 crore units or 1.93 per cent holding in NHIT. Vidyaniti LLP also bought over 4.49 crore units, amounting to a 2.3 per cent unit-holding in National Highways Infra Trust, as per the data on the exchange. The units were picked up at an average price of Rs 133.57 per unit, taking the combined transaction value to Rs 1,100.61 crore. Meanwhile, NHAI offloaded 8.24 crore units of NHIT at the same price, as per the data on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). On Monday, National Highways Infra Trust's units were closed on a flat note at Rs 133.50 a unit on the ...
One-way traffic was restored on the arterial Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Friday, five days after vehicular movement was suspended due to flash floods and mudslides in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district. Authorities allowed vehicles to move from Jammu towards Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will visit Ramban on Saturday to review the progress of work for the restoration of the highway and other infrastructure damaged due to the flash floods triggered by a cloudburst on April 20, officials said. The highway was initially cleared on Wednesday to facilitate the movement of vehicles stranded on the damaged Ramban stretch, they said. Severe damage at multiple locations had left thousands of passengers and tourists stranded, causing widespread travel disruptions along the vital route, they said. Even as the vehicular movement resumed, many tourists expressed frustration over being stuck in long traffic jams for hours. Congestion remained a major issue in
Commuters on national highways and expressways will need to pay more for their road journeys, as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has increased toll charges by an average of 4 to 5 per cent on highway sections across the country. The revised toll charges for motorists on national highways across the country have come into effect from Tuesday, a senior highways ministry official told PTI. NHAI notifies toll rate hikes for all the national highways and expressways separately. According to him, the change in toll fee is part of an annual exercise to revise the rates that are linked to the changes in the wholesale price index-based inflation. Every year, it is implemented from April 1. There are around 855 user fee plazas on the national highway network on which user fee is levied as per National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. Out of these, around 675 are public-funded fee plazas and 180 are concessionaire-operated toll plazas. The rev