The Rameswaram municipality has awarded tender for ₹2.27 crore for collecting toll from vehicles entering the island as the National Highways (NH) opposed to the municipality allowing the private contractor to collect the toll after setting up a ‘check post’ across the NH 49.
The municipality, which called for tenders on September 29, opened the tenders on Friday and awarded the contract to a private contractor, who was one of the nine participated in the tender and made the highest bid of ₹2,26,50,800.
Though the municipality called for the tenders to collect toll from vehicles which entered the municipality-owned bus stand, it ‘overtly’ allowed contractors to erect the ‘check post’ across the NH and collect the toll from all vehicles entering the island, ignoring the objections raised by the NH authorities.
The divisional engineer, NH, has sent repeated letters to the municipality and the district ministration objecting to the check-post and demanding its removal but no action was taken, an official told The Hindu .
The National Highways which was collecting toll for the Pamban road bridge, has stopped collecting toll since January this year after it was brought to its notice that this was not liked by scores of pilgrims who came from all parts of the country to visit the island.
The NH was charging ₹9 for cars and ₹30 for buses, whereas the Municipality has allowed the contractor to collect ₹150 for buses and ₹100 for cars, official sources said. Even after paying the toll, the pilgrims and tourists were fleeced at parking bays, they said.
The NH was making a day’s collection of ₹30,000 and one could imagine the contractor’s toll collection after the rates were hiked five times, they pointed.
Seeking the intervention of Nitin Gadkari, Minister or Road Transport and Highways, BJP district president K. Muraleedharan, who is also the president of Tour Operators’ Association, questioned the need for collecting tolls when the Centre has liberally sanctioned funds for the development of the island under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.
