[sustran] Activists angry over Pune-Mumbai Expressway toll loot, plan protest action

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.moneylife.in/article/activists-angry-over-pune-mumbai-expressway-toll-loot-plan-protest-action/15267.html


*Activists angry over Pune-Mumbai Expressway toll loot, plan protest action*
April 02, 2011 02:55 PM | [image: Bookmark and
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Vinita Deshmukh

*RTI Forum for Instant Information to petition Maharashtra chief minister,
file public interest litigation, to check the toll charges collected by IRB
that has a contract till 2019
*
Thanks to the Right To Information Act (RTI), it is pretty clear now that
Ideal Road Builders (IRB), the private agency which operates, maintains and
will collect the toll on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway until 2019, has already
collected toll tax in excess of what it had envisioned, going by the ‘cash
flow’ statement which it has submitted in the ‘contract agreement’ with the
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). As per this latest
document that I procured, it has already collected Rs949.45 crore until
September 2010 by way of toll fees (it must have surely crossed the Rs1,000
crore mark by 31 March 2011). This collection is against its own projection
of Rs606.05 in the contract agreement. MSRDC officials, on condition of
anonymity, admitted this is a vital document for comparison with the actual
toll collection. (Read, The grand Expressway robbery: How much toll is IRB
allowed to collect and who monitors
this?<http://www.moneylife.in/article/the-grand-expressway-robbery-how-much-toll-is-irb-allowed-to-collect-and-who-monitors-this/15168.html>)


Concerned over the hoodwinking by the IRB and MSRDC turning a Nelson’s Eye
to the issue, activists in Pune under the forum of the RTI Forum for Instant
Information (RFII) are working towards taking up this matter with the MSRDC,
the chief minister and they are also considering putting a public interest
litigation before the High Court. A meeting will be held on Tuesday, 5th
April, to chalk out the strategy.

Vivek Velankar, noted RTI activist and RFII member said, “MSRDC must use
technology at toll nakas by putting up motion sensors. This would help in
transparency in the actual number of vehicles passing through. Secondly, the
MSRDC should declare openly as to for how long citizens will have to pay
toll (by announcing a figure) by calculating toll collection up to now;
adding interest of IRB’s initial capital investment of Rs918 crore deposited
with MSRDC in 2004; adding expenditure by way of operation and maintenance
of the expressway; and certain amount of profit to the IRB.’’

Accordingly, MSRDC should either reduce the toll charges in order to keep up
with the spirit of the contract, which lasts till March 2019, wherein IRB
has been allowed to levy toll charges, or then terminate toll collection and
make the Pune-Mumbai Expressway a freeway. RFII has also demanded *stern
action against the MSRDC’s toll monitoring unit, which is an independent
consultancy firm,* and its admission that it does not look into the revenues
that IRB is collecting, although it is binding on it according to the norms
which are also put up on MSRDC’s website (www.msrdc.org) and also as per the
central government guidelines.’’

Activists in Pune are agitated that the IRB has neglected the maintenance of
the Expressway. Says Vijay Kumbhar, a leading RTI activist who was the first
to invoke Section 4 of the RTI Act in the country at the Pune Municipal
Corporation, “What has the IRB done about the safety of the commuters? The
last two-three months have witnessed gory accidents and the cause of most of
them is being conveniently labeled as ‘human error’. What action has been
taken against trucks which are supposed to keep to the left lane, but jam
the Expressway on all lanes, particularly during the night hours, leading to
senseless accidents?’’

Chandmal Parmar, noted road accident prevention activist says, “IRB has
completely failed in the maintenance and patrolling of the Expressway. It is
collecting toll without giving proper services to the people.’’

In 2010, 443 accidents took place, of which 101 were fatal—103 people were
killed. Since January 2011, more than 25 people have died in accidents.

After *Moneylife* exposed the Expressway toll scandal last week through the
use of RTI, the issue has taken a political hue. Shiv Sena activists in Pune
took up the issue by organising a rasta roko for half an hour on Friday and
their leader Neelam Gorhe also raised the issue in the state legislative
assembly.
We request citizens to join in the campaign to make the MSRDC and IRB
accountable. RFII plans to draft a petition letter by Tuesday which will
also be uploaded on the *Moneylife* website. Readers should sign this
petition and send it to the chief minister of Maharashtra, as well as the
MSRDC (we shall provide the email addresses for this), so that there is
ample public pressure that will make them sit up and take note.

Interestingly, as per a central government notification issued by the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 13 January 2011, the base rate
for toll charges for vehicles is as follows:

Car, jeep, LMV: Rs0.65 per km
Light commercial vehicles: Rs1.05 for every km
Bus, truck: Rs2.20 for every km
Three-axle commercial vehicles: Rs2.40 for every km
Heavy vehicles: Rs3.45 for every km
Over-sized vehicles: Rs4.20 for every km

This notification clearly states that these rates are not valid for earlier
contracts. But considering that the IRB has overshot its projected profits,
the RFII will request the MSRDC to adhere to this new notification in case
IRB has yet to reach its target of collection. If you go by this new
notification, a car on the expressway would have to pay only around Rs60 for
the 95-km route as against Rs165 being charged from 1st April. Says Sinha,
“I have traveled by car in states like Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
but find that the toll charges in Maharashtra are the highest.’’

RFII has requested the help of those who are well versed in the law and
willing to help to assist in filing a public interest litigation.
Individuals can write in at vinitapune at gmail.com