Preparations underway for traffic load on Chennai-Tiruchi Highway during Diwali festival

During the Diwali festival, when a large number of people in the state travel towards their hometowns, heavy traffic pressure is observed at the toll plazas located on the Chennai-Tiruchi National Highway. It takes approximately 20 minutes for commuters to pass through the six toll plazas on this highway.

According to a source from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), as traffic increases during the festive season, contractors ensure that toll operators and security guards are not on leave. With the rise in traffic, boom barriers are kept in an upright position so that time is not wasted in raising and lowering them. Normally, approximately 50,000 vehicles pass to Tiruchi in a single day, but this number increases during festivals. Due to the high volume of traffic, all lanes and toll booths are kept operational 24 hours a day.

Commuters will have a new experience this Diwali at Peranur, the first plaza starting from Chennai. According to another NHAI official, after the commencement of the state's first multi-lane free flow and barrier-free toll system at Peranur, vehicles do not need to stop. A commuter stops only if they wish to. In the last month, more than 83% of vehicles with sufficient balance and clean windshields have passed through this plaza without any difficulty.

In the month of October, a total of 19,18,967 vehicles passed through this plaza, of which 3,06,307 vehicles did not have sufficient balance or their tags were closed or duplicate. The NHAI official stated that vehicles without sufficient balance in FASTag will be blacklisted and e-challans will also be issued. Such vehicles will be stopped at the next plaza and will have to pay double the fee. If a vehicle does not have FASTag, the vehicle will be blocked on the vehicle portal, due to which they will not be able to avail RTO services such as name transfer and pollution certificates.

Furthermore, if vehicles do not have proper number plates or have fake number plates, the system will notify the police and the police will register an FIR. The official has requested people to ensure that their vehicle's number plate is clean and clearly visible to avoid such problems. Similarly, if there is no dust on the windshield, FASTag will function properly.

The state's first multi-lane free flow, barrier-free toll system was introduced at Peranur.