After four weeks, tolling will commence at the Paranur plaza in Chengalpet on Sunday. Fee collection had to be stopped after the plaza was vandalised and cash stolen following violence after a fight between a bus crew and plaza staff in January.
“All the repair work has been completed. We are awaiting clearance from the police to commence operations since we had to stop toll collection due to the violence. The police have also given some suggestions that we are implementing,” said an official of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
In the last three weeks, the NHAI has lost nearly ₹8 crore of toll collection at the plaza as it has not been operational. The NHAI has sanctioned ₹50 lakh for the civil work. “The funds have been released from our exigency funds. We do have insurance coverage, we are also exploring that avenue,” said an official source in the NHAI.
Sources in the Chengalpet police said that a permanent police booth would be established near the plaza to act as a deterrent. “We have also asked to check the antecedents of the staff, who number close to 100, and ensure that only those who do not have any suspicious background are employed,” a police officer said.
Violence was unleashed after the toll staff had asked the crew of a government bus from Chennai to Tirunelveli to pay the user fee since the vehicle had entered the cash-only lane. But the crew did not pay. This led to an altercation and ended in an assault. Irate passengers, the public and crew members from other buses too, jumped into the fight and the plaza was vandalised. Six toll collection booths, computers, boom barriers, furniture, CCTV cameras and electronic toll collection scanners and systems were broken by the mob on that day.
