Toll System In India - Report and Analysis

"The tales of last long weekend that I got to hear from my mates who went venturing out of town towards Uttarakhand hills were horrific. Some of them set out for Nainitaal reached Bhimtaal instead that too in some 14-15 hours of drive. Some who had their bookings in Bhimtaal reached Nainitaal instead. All their hotel bookings had to be cancelled. It was utterly chaotic. Similar stories were heard about people travelling towards Rajasthan. One issue that spoiled their long weekend getaway on both sides of Delhi-NCR was the terribly long queues on toll plazas. They had to face big queues on these toll plazas, each one of them consuming an hour on average to cross. Mind you while driving to Nainitaal from Delhi NCR, you would encounter around 4-5 of these tolls plazas.

It was utterly painful for the commuters to pay up the hefty toll (ranging from Rs 50 to 300 one side) after being stuck for more than an hour thereon. Toll plazas have a huge carbon footprint as well. A normal passenger diesel driven car would emit about 16g VOC, 229 g CO, 4.7 g NO, 2.62 g particulate matter per hour, while idling.

The toll plazas are a reality across the length & breadth of this country. True we got to live with them despite big question marks on their financial sanctity. Many of these roads have possibly covered their initial cost by now. Still they are busy milking people and environment.

 

V The 9.2 KM DND flyover between Ashram and Noida was operational in February 2001. The cost incurred by the IL & FS and NOIDA Authority promoted Special Purpose Vehicle, Noida Toll Bridge Company was around 408 Crores, constructed on “Build-Own-Operate-Transfer” basis. As per a highly opaque contract with the UP Government this flyway would be handed over to the UP Government only in 2031. Note that, since Feb 2001 the company has already collected about 650 Crores in toll. The Noida toll bridge company was also given some 100 acres of land, over which it runs its operation free of cost. The company also has huge earning through advertising revenues. All these profitable aspects have made the NTBCL getting listed in all the major stock exchanges offering rich dividends to the investors, albeit at the cost of daily commuters.

Most of the toll plazas have a sordid story to present to the commuters. The Maharashtra government have removed many of them recently at the behest of activists like Govind Pansare. Right from complete lack of technical intervention to unwelcoming booth staff, the whole experience of going through the toll plazas is painful. We as citizens need to come together to raise awareness and register our disapproval, if we need to check this continue for longer. "

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