Two public interest litigation petitions were filed before Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday seeking a restraint on collection of toll from three toll plazas located in proximity to one another in Madurai.
In his petition, K. Immanuel of Madurai said the toll plazas at Sivaganga junction (Masthanpatti), Chintamani junction and Valayankulam junction (Parambupatti) were located within a 27 km stretch - from Sivaganga Road-Ring Road junction to Kappalur. While one toll plaza was within a distance of three km from Mattuthavani bus stand, the other two were in proximity to each other. As a result, commuters, school students and the general public were affected by this. There were already toll plazas at Chittampatti and Eliyarpathi on Thoothukudi highway and Kappalur near Tirumangalam, which was under the control of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). “One who travels from Chennai to Thoothukudi and other southern districts has to pay toll at all these places. Besides, the newly-opened toll plazas do not have separate lanes for emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire tenders. As per Rule 8 of National Highways Fees Determination of Rates and Collection Rules, 2008, there should be a distance of 60 km between one toll plaza and another. But, in contravention of this rule, the new toll plazas were within a stretch of 27 km, he said.
Advocate J. Vijayaraja, also from Madurai, complained that there were schools and hospitals along the stretch. Both the petitioners pointed to the High Court Judgement of 2017 that listed 15 guidelines to be followed at toll plazas, that included a dedicated lane for emergency services and exempted vehicles. Also, security personnel and a full-time officer must be present to ensure smooth toll collection at all toll plazas. However, there were none at these toll plazas, the petitioners said and sought a restraint on toll collection till disposal of the petitions.
Taking up the petitions for hearing, a Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and T. Ravindran directed the State to file a counter affidavit and adjourned the case to December 11.
