The private company, however, continues to collect toll money that has been estimated to be `100 crore in toll from the date of being awarded the contract from vehicled passing through the highway stretch, inspite of the fact that the work is yet to start.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) awarded the contract to Essel Walajapet Poonamallee Toll Road Pvt Ltd on June 4, 2012.
The contract stipulates that the project should be completed within 30 months from June 1, 2013 on a DBFOT (Design-Built-Finance-Operate-Transfer) basis.
Representatives of several associations including Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners’ Federation (TNLOF), Vellore District Bus Owners’ Association (VDBOA), Aminjikarai Lorry Owners’ Welfare Association (ALOWA) and other private operators brought the issue to the attention of the district administration and said that if officials failed to address the issue before April 10, they would close the toll plaza down.
“The private agency has not even begun the six-lane work for even a kilometre stretch. But they are collecting toll-user fees for six-lanes at escalated rates. The road is in a very bad condition and the agency is not evening carrying out patch work,” S Yuvaraj, vice president of TNLOF.
Yuvaraj added that at the time of awarding the contract, the then Vellore Collector, P Sankar, had instructed the concessionaire (Essel) that the existing toll-fees (prevailing before January 1, 2013) should be maintained till the completion of the six-lane project.
“The then Collector had given the instruction on January 4, 2013. But, the agency revised the toll fee as per six-lane rates after he was transferred from the district in the month of October 2013,” said Yuvaraj and alleged that the private company had fleeced road users of around `100 crore in the last 15 months.
According to the NHAI website, the progress of the project has been hindered with the concessionaire’s inability to provide the required design and drawings with a shortfall in effective establishment and control of various activities.
However, the NHAI has not insisted that the concessionaire expedite the project.
An NHAI official when contacted, said that Essel had been collecting toll fees as per four lane.
However the president of VDBOA, Dr Vijay Govindaraj, countered this and said “The concessionaire had increased the toll fee by 63 percent and continues to increase the fee.
The concessionaire has also failed to take up repair or patch work of the NH-4 that has led to several accidents. The project manager should be held responsible and be penalised,” said Govindaraj.
No comments:
Post a Comment