MSRDC to identify toll-exempted cars

In the wake of criticism from toll activists about the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) not having data of vehicles exempted from paying toll at the five entry points to the city and at Bandra Worli Sealink (BWSL), the MSRDC has now decided to carry out 24-hour video surveys for seven days at the five entry points and BWSL so as to identify the registration numbers of those vehicles that are being exempted from paying toll.

The entry points to the city are the tollbooths at Vashi, Mulund on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), Dahisar, Airoli and Mulund on LBS Marg. The vehicles that are exempted from paying toll are those meant for VVIPs such as the President, Vice-President, governors of state, representatives entitled to red beacons atop their vehicles, vehicles carrying current and former MPs, MLAs and MLCs, ambulances, defence vehicles, police and fire-fighting vehicles, etc.

“We will appoint an agency that will carry out the traffic survey for MSRDC. According to the plan, there will be two cameras for two individual lanes focused on the registration number of the vehicles. The survey agency will monitor and make a list of those vehicles that pass the toll plazas on a frequent basis and are exempted from paying toll. This will help the corporation obtain exact data on the number of vehicles that are entering the city or travelling on the sea link and are under the exemption category,” said an official from the MSRDC’s toll monitoring unit.

The Asian Age had reported in January about RTI activist Sanjay Shirodkar seeking information on the list of VIP vehicles entering the city, to which the MSRDC had replied saying it did not have data of the VIPs or pass-holders since that particular information was maintained by the contractor concerned.

Mr Shirodkar said, “A similar traffic survey was carried out in 2015, but MSRDC did not maintain separate data of exempted vehicles after the survey was concluded back in 2015. It was only after I filed an RTI query that they have woken up to the need to carry out a survey to identify vehicles that are exempted from paying toll.”

‘Contractors being shielded’ There have been allegations by toll activists time and again that there is massive under-reporting of traffic data, with MSRDC shielding contractors. “Till date, the state government has not initiated any action (against this), which is helping contractors to under-report traffic data. This causes a loss for the state government as under-reporting of traffic data results in a negative impact on the cash flow through toll collection,” said toll activist Sanjay Shirodkar.