VIPs make up 50 per cent of traffic into city

It has emerged that upto half of all vehicles that enter Mumbai are VIP vehicles. About 50 per cent of the vehicular traffic on the five entry points of Mumbai get toll exemption owing to their VIP status and being pass holders.

Earlier, an RTI query had revealed a discrepancy of about 50 per cent in the number of average daily traffic (ADT) submitted by the contractor and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

However, MSRDC has no data about whom these VIP vehicles belong to, reveals an RTI query.

It was reported by The Asian Age on January 26, 2015 that in an RTI query filed by toll activist Sanjay Shirodkar, it was revealed that the traffic data given by contractor Mumbai Entry Points Infrastructure Developers (MEPID) has been under reporting the average daily traffic (ADT).

MEPID operates tollbooths at the entry points of the city, namely Vashi tollbooth, Mulund tollbooth on Eastern Express Highway (EEH), Dahisar tollbooth, Airoli tollbooth and Mulund tollbooth on LBS Marg.

For instance, at the Mulund tollbooth, the ADT by MSRDC for July 2015 is 14,793 and by the MEPID is 7,495 which means an under reporting of almost 50 per cent. The MEPID gives monthly report of the vehicular count to the MSRDC.

D. A. Salunke, chief engineer of toll monitoring unit (TMU), MSRDC, defended the under reporting and said, “The videographic survey by MSRDC included the VIPs and pass holders. The MEPID’s videographic survey did not include the VIP vehicles and pass holders in its data.”

RTI activist Mr Shirodkar had then sought information on the list of VIP vehicles entering the city; the MSRDC, however, replied saying it did not have data of the VIPs or pass holders as that particular data was maintained by the contractor.

“The MSRDC is a government agency, so it should have the data of all VIP vehicles and pass holders which are being given toll exemption by the contractor,” said Mr Shirodkar.

Mr Salunke said the MSRDC had asked for a list of VIP vehicles and pass holders from the contractor. “We do not maintain the list, as there is no such condition in the contract asking the contractor to submit the list of VIP vehicles.”

Mr Shirodkar further added that the MSRDC itself had conducted a videographic survey of vehicular movement in July 2015, after which the discrepancy was revealed. He said the under reporting shows 50 per cent of the vehicles entering the city belonged to unidentified VIPs and pass holders.

According to MSRDC officials, the problem of under reporting and discrepancy of ADT would be solved, once the real-time data collection software to monitor toll collection at every MSRDC tollbooth in the state is implemented.

The software will be developed with the help of “Wide Area Network” (WAN) connectivity, and all WAN servers will be connected with the main server at MSRDC’s head office in Mumbai, he said.