RESIDENTS WARY AS NHAI PLANS TOLL ROAD

RESIDENTS WARY AS NHAI PLANS TOLL ROAD
Published Date: 1/5/2009 - (NIE)

G Saravanan

Chennai, January 4: THE proposal to develop the Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) scheme has not only annoyed the residents and regular road users, but also sparked a debate on the NHAI’s hidden intent in doing so.

While people agree that toll roads would help faster movement of traffic and improve road maintenance, they want the toll plazas located on the outskirts of the city and not near any residential area. “Else, using the road would burn a hole in the pockets of the residents,” says Ganesan, a resident of Ambattur OT and a frequent visitor to European countries.

“For the first few years, the toll tax would be low. But after 10-odd years, people may have to cough up huge sums to cross even a small stretch of, say 15-20 km, since the charges could shoot,” he warns. Kandan, a college student from Avadi, says: “While planning toll roads, one must address the question of social responsibility.

The government should provide a free parallel road that will ensure social equity as the poor can still have access to the road network. Unfortunately, there is no alternative stretch along the CTH Road. So, why make it a toll road?” he wonders. According to Ganesan, “it is only in India that we find toll roads well inside residential and busy commercial areas. The recently inaugurated Rajiv Gandhi Salai (Old Mahabalipuram Road) in South Chennai is a classic example.

The whole stretch has many colleges, commercial offices and residential pockets, yet the government has introduced toll tax and people are paying it.” “If road users succumb to the government’s new ploy to mint money, in a few years time, Chennai’s lifelines like Mount Road and Poonamalle High Road could well become toll roads, under the pretext of fund crunch and better maintenance,” Ganesan cautioned. Point taken.