Chennai: One more toll plaza to charge motorists from today
Opposing the move, the state truckers association questioned the rationality behind collecting the user fee for a roads that were built for developing ports.
Published: 20th February 2019 06:01 AM
The new toll plaza set up at Mathur village in Manali | Nakshatra Krishnamoorthy
By B Anbuselvan
Express News Service
CHENNAI: Amid strong opposition from a section of motorists and state truckers association, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set up another toll gate at Mathur Manali Ennore Express Highway. The user fee collection will begin from Wednesday.
With this, the northern outskirts of Chennai city now have got four toll plaza within a 20-km radius.
The new toll gate was three km away from the Surapattu toll plaza (on the Chennai bypass road), five km from Nallur toll gate (Chennai-Tada road) and 20 km from Vanagaram toll gate (Chennai bypass road).
The four stretches of roads covering 28.33 km have been developed at the cost of `600 crore under Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP). The EMRIP stretches include Manali Ennore Expressway, northern portion of Inner Ring Road, Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetty road and Manali oil refinery road.
The road projects were executed by the Chennai Ennore Port Road Company Limited (CEPRCL), which comprises Chennai Port Trust, Kamarajar Port Limited, NHAI and the state government as its stakeholders.
The state government’s gazette notification, dated October 1, 2018, permitted the CEPRCL or any agency authorised by CEPRCL to collect user fee from the toll plaza at Mathur until recovering the project cost. The motorists will be charged toll of `35 to `215 for single journey depending on the categories of the vehicles.
Opposing the move, the state truckers association questioned the rationality behind collecting the user fee for a roads that were built for developing ports.
“In early 2000 the project was proposed to provide last-mile connectivity for vehicles that transport goods for Kamarajar (Ennore) port and Chennai port. More than 50 per cent of project cost was borne by them. Then why should we repay the expenses through user fee?,” asked R Sukumar, president, Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Federation (TNLOF).
Echoing the similar view, S Soundrajan, retired Manager (Finance), NHAI, Tamil Nadu questioned the legality of setting up the toll plaza on roads that were largely funded by public limited companies.
“Indian Tolls Act 1951 authorises state governments to set up toll gates on roads that are funded by government or private companies. However, there was no provision in the NH Act or Indian Tolls Act to collect user fee for roads that are funded by companies (Chennai port and Kamarajar port),” he added.
Opposing the move, the state truckers association questioned the rationality behind collecting the user fee for a roads that were built for developing ports.
Published: 20th February 2019 06:01 AM
The new toll plaza set up at Mathur village in Manali | Nakshatra Krishnamoorthy
By B Anbuselvan
Express News Service
CHENNAI: Amid strong opposition from a section of motorists and state truckers association, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set up another toll gate at Mathur Manali Ennore Express Highway. The user fee collection will begin from Wednesday.
With this, the northern outskirts of Chennai city now have got four toll plaza within a 20-km radius.
The new toll gate was three km away from the Surapattu toll plaza (on the Chennai bypass road), five km from Nallur toll gate (Chennai-Tada road) and 20 km from Vanagaram toll gate (Chennai bypass road).
The four stretches of roads covering 28.33 km have been developed at the cost of `600 crore under Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP). The EMRIP stretches include Manali Ennore Expressway, northern portion of Inner Ring Road, Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetty road and Manali oil refinery road.
The road projects were executed by the Chennai Ennore Port Road Company Limited (CEPRCL), which comprises Chennai Port Trust, Kamarajar Port Limited, NHAI and the state government as its stakeholders.
The state government’s gazette notification, dated October 1, 2018, permitted the CEPRCL or any agency authorised by CEPRCL to collect user fee from the toll plaza at Mathur until recovering the project cost. The motorists will be charged toll of `35 to `215 for single journey depending on the categories of the vehicles.
Opposing the move, the state truckers association questioned the rationality behind collecting the user fee for a roads that were built for developing ports.
“In early 2000 the project was proposed to provide last-mile connectivity for vehicles that transport goods for Kamarajar (Ennore) port and Chennai port. More than 50 per cent of project cost was borne by them. Then why should we repay the expenses through user fee?,” asked R Sukumar, president, Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Federation (TNLOF).
Echoing the similar view, S Soundrajan, retired Manager (Finance), NHAI, Tamil Nadu questioned the legality of setting up the toll plaza on roads that were largely funded by public limited companies.
“Indian Tolls Act 1951 authorises state governments to set up toll gates on roads that are funded by government or private companies. However, there was no provision in the NH Act or Indian Tolls Act to collect user fee for roads that are funded by companies (Chennai port and Kamarajar port),” he added.
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