Delhi Police Ask MCD to Relocate DND and Chilla Border Toll Plazas to Ease Traffic
The Delhi Traffic Police has written to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) requesting the relocation of seven toll plazas, including key border points at the Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway, Chilla border, and Noida Mor-Dallupura Road, to ease severe daily traffic congestion. The letter, sent on June 30 by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) K Ramesh to the MCD's Deputy Commissioner of Toll Tax, aims to address major bottlenecks that disrupt traffic on vital corridors connecting Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
According to the traffic police, the seven affected toll plazas experience heavy vehicular movement daily. The current setup leads to major bottlenecking and bumper-to-bumper queues, particularly during morning and evening peak hours. The congestion is primarily attributed to manual toll collection, a shortage of toll collection staff, the occupation of multiple lanes for toll collection, and delays in issuing monthly passes.
Field visits conducted by the traffic police revealed specific issues at several locations. At the DND toll plaza, toll collection staff reportedly use two of the three available lanes for toll collection, reducing the width of the carriageway and creating bottlenecks. Similarly, the Noida Mor MCD toll on Dallupura Road suffers from inadequate road width to handle the existing volume of traffic.
The Sabhapur toll collection point on the elevated Delhi-Dehradun Expressway has also been flagged as a significant road safety concern. The toll infrastructure has reduced the effective width of the carriageway, causing sudden lane merging. Commercial vehicles frequently halt in the left lane of the expressway to pay the MCD tax, which leads to sudden slowing and queuing of vehicles, increasing the risk of rear-end collisions.
Traffic officials noted that deploying personnel to regulate traffic on these high-speed corridors is hazardous due to vehicle speeds. Despite previous directions, toll collection staff have reportedly done little to enforce lane discipline. Drivers of commercial vehicles, particularly taxis, often stop abruptly in any lane to pay the toll, with average halts of 15 to 20 seconds causing significant backlogs. This congestion worsens at night when heavy commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses, queue up before the toll plazas after daytime no-entry restrictions are lifted.
In the letter, DCP Ramesh urged the MCD to move the toll plazas to locations where collection can occur without disrupting the free flow of traffic. He also suggested exploring alternative, technology-based, or non-stop toll collection systems to improve operational efficiency and safety.
Additionally, the MCD has plans to make 20 major border toll plazas barrier-less ahead of the winter pollution season in October, with the remaining border points expected to be covered by December 2026.
