Toll hike from Sept 1 to push up travel costs

Toll hike from Sept 1 to push up travel costs

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Chennai : Starting September 1, travelling by car from Chennai to Bengaluru or southern and western districts of Tamil Nadu will cost more, with tolls increasing by ₹30 to₹115 at over 25 plazas across the state. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has revised toll rates, raising the cost for a trip from Chennai to Bengaluru from ₹430 to ₹460. This annual revision comes in the wake of growing demands to remove toll plazas, particularly those within urban limits. 

Despite a request from state highways minister E V Velu to the NHAI, an agency under the Union Road Transport Ministry, no action has been taken. Transportation activist S Kamal criticised the hike as an “unnecessary burden” on the public, citing incomplete road widening projects and damaged stretches on highways, especially around Chennai. “As the monsoon approaches, essential repairs including patchwork to fix potholes remain unfinished. “In areas such as Red Hills on the Chennai-Tada Kolkata highway, incomplete stormwater drain construction has previously cau sed severe traffic gridlocks during monsoon,” he said. S Ganesh, a resident from Singaperumalkoil, raised concern about the lack of basic infrastructure such as adequate lighting on accident-prone stretches of Chennai-Trichy highway. 

Despite numerous complaints, these issues persist while tolls continue to be collected without significant reinvestment on road maintenance. NHAI data reveals that toll collections in Tamil Nadu amount to at least ₹4,221 crore annually, with the Thopur plaza alone collecting ₹269 crore. Traders have cautioned that the toll hike will have a cascading effect on the prices of essential goods, while private bus operators are likely to hike ticket fares in response. 

Toll operators claim that despite a decade of operation, they still haven’t recovered 40% of costs spent on road construction and maintenance, necessitating the toll hike to cover expenses and ensure employee wages.