5 months ago
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The Telangana government’s petition to the Centre for toll exemption connected the Hyderabad–Vijayawada stretch of National Highway 65 during Sankranti volition payment lakhs of Telangana residents who usage the aforesaid road to instrumentality to their hometowns wrong the State aft the festive season.
In a missive addressed to the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, the Telangana Minister for Roads and Buildings, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, flagged the expected spike successful vehicular question betwixt January 9 and 18, coinciding with Sankranti travel. The curate pointed retired that postulation volumes during the festival play are astir 200% higher than normal, starring to terrible congestion and agelong delays astatine toll plazas, peculiarly Panthangi, Korlapahad and Chilakallu.
NH-65: More than conscionable a Hyderabad–Vijayawada highway
NH-65 is the superior arterial roadworthy connecting Hyderabad with coastal Andhra Pradesh. At the aforesaid time, it serves arsenic the main exit way from the metropolis for residents heading towards eastbound and south-eastern districts of Telangana. Every Sankranti, a ample fig of families question from Hyderabad to districts specified arsenic Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Nalgonda and Suryapet, and Khammam, galore of them ne'er crossing the State borderline contempt utilizing what is commonly referred to arsenic the Vijayawada highway.
Where the toll plazas are and however overmuch commuters pay
The full region betwixt Hyderabad and Vijayawada is astir 280 kilometres. The Panthangi toll plaza is located astir 60 kilometres from Hyderabad, Korlapahad is different 60 kilometres ahead, and Chilakallu lies astir 87 kilometres beyond that. On average, a one-way travel from Hyderabad to Vijayawada attracts a toll interest of astir ₹360, with astir ₹80 collected astatine Panthangi, ₹120 astatine Korlapahad and ₹110 astatine Chilakallu for a car. Additional smaller toll plazas whitethorn use minimal charges for those travelling to intermediate destinations.
Festive congestion a recurring problem
During Sankranti, congestion astatine these toll plazas is simply a recurring problem. An idiosyncratic moving astatine a toll plaza power country said the measurement of postulation rises dramatically during the festival period. “We usually spot astir 25,000 to 30,000 vehicles walk done the Panthangi toll booth. During Sankranti, the fig triples, with 80,000 to 1 lakh vehicles passing done the booth successful a azygous day. This happens for 2 to 3 days earlier the festival begins,” the authoritative said.
“We question each twelvemonth to my colony adjacent Miryalaguda successful Nalgonda district. Even though we telephone it the Vijayawada highway, we bash not spell to Andhra. There are times erstwhile I instrumentality my motorcycle with my brother, which is easier since we bash not wage a toll for a two-wheeler. But during Sankranti 2025, I had to instrumentality my car and we were stuck adjacent the Panthangi booth for implicit an hour,” said Srisailam M, a supervisor astatine a state bureau successful Hyderabad.
If the connection is accepted, toll exemption astatine Panthangi and Korlapahad would importantly easiness the load connected specified intra-State travellers. It would payment families travelling to interior mandals of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Nalgonda, Khammam and Suryapet districts, galore of whom trust connected backstage vehicles owed to overcrowded nationalist transport during the festival.
“For Sankranti, buses are crowded and tickets are expensive, truthful we usually instrumentality our ain conveyance to our colony adjacent Chityala. Once we transverse the metropolis limits, toll outgo becomes unavoidable adjacent though we are not crossing States. It would beryllium bully if the authorities considers radical similar america who usage the road lone for intra-State travel,” said Anitha, a nonmigratory of Nalgonda district.
The 3rd toll plaza astatine Chilakallu, located aft the Telangana–Andhra Pradesh border, chiefly affects vehicles entering Andhra Pradesh, including those bound for Vijayawada, Guntur and adjacent regions.
