Radio tag project delayed due to construction ban

NEW DELHI: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s ambitious plan to install the radio frequency identification detection (RFID) system to collect toll tax from commercial vehicles entering the Capital from 12 entry points has been hit by the ban on construction activity.

The RFID system, which was to be made operational by midNovember, will now be completed by next month, a senior SDMC official said.

SMDC officials say the road surface near the toll booths at all the entry points have to dug up to lay cables for the sophisticated system and then covered with ready-mix concrete (RMC).

At all toll points, work on roads and crash barriers has been halted due to the ban of construction activity between 6pm and 6am in Delhi-ncr .

“Construction work is mainly carried out at night to ensure minimum inconvenience to commuters. It is during this time we transport concrete mixture from the ready-mix concrete plants in NCR to construction sites in the city. The material has to be transported fast as it can’t be utilised if kept unused for over two hours. The trucks carrying RMC mix used to enter the city after 11pm. But now the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) has banned construction activity at night,” said a senior SDMC official on condition of anonymity.

The SDMC, the nodal agency for the implementation of the RFID project, will have to wait for the ban to be completely lifted. “The authority’s directions have virtually affected progress of the project,” the official said.

The electronic system of toll collection was recommended by the EPCA to decongest the city’s borders.

The new system will reduce congestion on highways, an SDMC official said, as vehicles pile up during manual collection of toll tax. The system facilitates automatic deduction of toll tax from the vehicle owner’s account without having to stop the vehicle at border points. The sensors read the tags on vehicles and deduct the toll amount from their e-purses.

The project included installing RFID sensors at specific lanes at each of the border points receiving majority of vehicles (80%) by November 20.