espite assurances of a toll-free Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha poll campaign, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be doing just the opposite, with fresh plans to impose usage fees on more roads as per its new toll policy.
Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Chandrakant Patil announced in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday that tolls will be imposed on around 21,000 km of roads, which will be constructed with the help of private contractors. Of the planned road length, the construction of around 4,000 km worth Rs 8,000 crore will be announced next month.
“As per the new toll policy, we will be including two options such as buyback and sharing. It will help to solve a number of problems in the toll system,” Mr Patil said, adding that new tolls will be functioning as per the 90:10 policy. As per the policy, following the realisation of investment including 12 per cent interest and 15 per cent profit, 90 per cent of the future revenue will be given to the government and 10 per cent to the contractor. Small vehicles will not be charged toll.
“There are 11 types of road toll being collected by the government. Apart from that, the state is collecting toll since 1991. However, there is no transparency and the condition of the roads is deplorable. The government does not give people the option of using service roads instead, thereby violating their fundamental right to access,” Sanjay Shirodkar, an RTI activist from Pune who has exposed toll irregularities in the past, said.
Road transport expert Ashok Datar called it a Catch-22 situation for the government, where they need to go in for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for better quality roads and at the same time fund it. “Whatever it does, the government must have transparency in toll collection,” Mr Datar emphasised.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil on Wednesday said the government must cancel all tolls including those in Mumbai. “BJP has brought the toll culture to Maharashtra and they should end it now. If they can cancel toll collection in Kolhapur, then why not in other cities? The government must cancel all tolls including those in Mumbai,” Mr Patil said.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which had led an agitation demanding scrapping of all toll collection, said the party’s position is clear on the issue. “Rajsaheb (party chief Raj Thackeray) will be speaking on this and other issues during his rally on Friday. The party’s stand on toll collection hasn’t changed,” a senior MNS leader said.
Mr Patil also said all major roads in Maharashtra under the PWD and MSRDC will be made pothole-free by May 31, including state and national highways that run in length for up to 90,532 km. He added that all roads on state borders up to a length of 100 km will be given extra attention. In the next three years, the state government has decided to do away with railway crossings by building Railway Over Bridge (ROB), Mr Patil announced.
With inputs by Sharad Vyas
The government must cancel all
tolls including
those in Mumbai
Jayant PatilNCP MLA
