Increasing toll rates in and around the city seems to have dealt a further blow to the lorry trade which is already hit by the hike in fuel price and other problems, complain sand lorry owners.
Pointing out that the toll rates are revised every year, members of the Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Association demanded that the State government take over the maintenance of toll gates to regulate the rates. They recently wrote to the Chief Minister requesting the State government’s intervention in regulating exorbitant toll rates.
There are nearly 41 toll plazas in the State and of this nearly 30 are maintained by private agencies. Nearly 12 toll plazas are located in and around Chennai. R. Muniratnam, the association’s president said on the Chennai Bypass, motorists who travel a distance of 40 km between Tambaram and Red Hills have to stop at three toll plazas.
The toll rates were recently revised by about Rs.80 to Rs.100. “To transport a truck load of sand from Chennai to Villupuram, we have to pass five toll plazas and pay nearly Rs.2,200 for a round trip,” he said.
There are over 70,000 lorries and vans operating in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts. The members want the State government to intervene and cut down the toll rates by half and also remove toll plazas in Chennai Corporation limits on the lines of Mumbai.
Representatives of the building industry too feel that the amount they pay as toll fee alone resulted in an increase in the cost of construction material that reaches the city and it is invariably passed on to consumers. A rational toll structure would be a boon to all stakeholders in the construction industry, they added.
