by NHAI Adds Corridor To Char Dham Circuit, Toll Discount For Devotional Intent
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch from the world’s largest democracy and its loudest WhatsApp groups.
NEW DELHI, India — Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration last week of the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, the National Highways Authority of India today announced that the new 210-kilometre expressway has been formally classified as a religious experience and will, in future, qualify for entry under the Char Dham circuit.
The classification, drafted by NHAI in consultation with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and a small advisory panel of pandits, comes in response to what officials described as “an unprecedented volume of devotional content” produced by motorists driving the corridor in its first week of operation.
The Devotional Surge
“In the first 168 hours of opening, we have logged 4.7 lakh Reels of motorists describing the expressway, in tones we can only describe as worshipful,” said NHAI spokesperson Atul Bhargava at a press conference at Vigyan Bhawan. “We have received messages from drivers calling the corridor ‘a darshan,’ ‘a moksha,’ and in one case, simply ‘haan haan haan.'”
According to the new classification, the Delhi-Dehradun corridor will now be treated, for the purposes of certain pilgrimage subsidies, as the unofficial fifth gateway to the Char Dham circuit, joining Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
Toll Implications
Motorists who can demonstrate “primarily devotional intent” will be eligible for a discounted toll rate of Rs 47, in line with the corridor’s elevation to spiritual infrastructure.
“Devotional intent will be assessed through a brief on-screen self-declaration at the toll plaza,” explained Bhargava. “We will trust the motorist. India has a long tradition of trust at toll plazas. We will not, at this stage, be performing background checks.”
Reception
The Uttarakhand Tourism Department welcomed the move, noting that “Dehradun has, for too long, been the easier-to-reach Doon. The corridor changes that, and the religious classification confirms it.”
Civil society groups including the Centre for Science and Environment raised mild concern about the classification’s environmental implications, particularly the corridor’s elephant-corridor crossings, but conceded that “if it is now spiritual, it is harder to argue with.”
The classification takes effect at midnight on Akshay Tritiya. Motorists are advised to bring an aarti, a steering wheel cover, and a flask.
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