Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Monday announced complete toll exemptions for light motor vehicles at five entry points of Mumbai. The opposition called it “election jumla”.
According to the state government, the toll waiver will benefit approximately 2.8 lakh light motor vehicles every day. There are five entry points for Mumbai including Vashi creek bridge, Airoli creek bridge, on the Western Express Highway at Dahisar, Eastern Express Highway at Mulund and LBS road at Mulund.
An official from the MSRDC, which is the nodal agency for the five entry points, said, “Every day, 3.6 lakh vehicles pass through the five toll booths. Of these, on average, 2.8 lakh are light motor vehicles.”
As per the submission of the MEP Infrastructure and Developers, the contractor operating toll booths at the five entry points,it collected Rs 45.31 crore as toll tax in January this year.
The exemption for the light motor vehicles will be implemented from 12am on Tuesday, chief minister Eknath Shinde announced. Calling it a “masterstroke” that will save time, fuel and reduce pollution, the CM said, “It was a long pending demand to waive toll at Mumbai’s entry points. Many activists, including I, had approached the court demanding the same. Just like we implemented Laadki Bahin Bahin (Beloved Sister), Laadka Bhui (Beloved Brother) and Laadka Shetkar (Beloved Farmer) schemes, now we have implemented Ladke commuters scheme.”
Soon after the announcement, the opposition parties criticised the government for announcing schemes only to woo voters before the election. The opposition parties said like all other schemes, toll tax waiver was also election ‘jumla’ which put additional burden on the state budget.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar alleged that the move will benefit only the contractor, who will receive compensation from the government. “This is an election jumla to fool people. Around Rs 800 crore will be given out of this to benefit someone, this is the politics behind it,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi claimed that it was a desperate move by the Eknath Shinde government to stay in power. “After completely finishing the law and order situation in Maharashtra, now they have taken a new decision. Elections are going to be announced today or the day after and the model code of conduct will be imposed in Maharashtra. So as a last-minute desperate measure, they have removed the five tolls of Mumbai from midnight. This is the way they are trying their best to stay in power,” she said in a social media post.
However, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray congratulated the government. He also claimed that his party workers should also be credited for it.
“Congratulations to all the citizens living in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area and a big congratulations to my Maharashtra soldiers (MNS workers). We fought hard for transparency in toll collections. We were criticised for vandalising the toll booths but now every Mumbaikar can travel toll-free,” Raj said.
In 1995, the state government had started construction of 52 bridges and underpasses in the MMR at a cost of Rs 1,560 crore. In 2002, all five toll booths were commissioned in order to recover money spent on the construction of bridges. According to activists, the maintenance money and costs were recovered 10 years ago, but the government continued to collect the toll. Last year, the Maharashtra government extended the toll tax recovery for three more years till 2027 and it was expecting revenue of around Rs 11,000 crore.