5 months ago
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With a Right to Information (RTI) query revealing that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) collected a whopping ₹1.58 lakh crore as toll during the past five years from motorists, demand is rife that the agency invest more to ensure safe and fast commuting through the network of highways in Kerala that are in different stages of completion.
At ₹1,238 crore, the share of Kerala in toll collection is lower than that of most States, probably since critical highway corridors such NH 66 are still in the development stage, and toll is being levied only for a few four- and six-lane stretches, said Raju Vazhakkala, a Kochi-based RTI activist who filed a query regarding toll collection. “Recent developments, like in Gujarat where over ₹75 crore was siphoned off by the operator of an illegal toll plaza on an alternative route, sheds light on the need for accountability in toll collection,” he added.
Road safety experts have been citing the demand to augment safety measures on highways and the need for stepped-up rule enforcement, what with India registering a 15% increase in road accident fatalities (a bulk of which are on highways), even as fatalities fell by 5% worldwide. This striking contrast of the accident death figures that occurred between 2010 and 2021 in India and in the rest of the world finds mention in the ‘Global status report on Road Safety 2023’, at a time when national highway development saw unprecedented progress in the country.
Paliekkara toll
Aluva-based RTI activist Khalid Mundapilly, who had also filed over a dozen public-interest petitions before the Kerala High Court, including against calling hartals at the drop of a hat, spoke of how the hefty toll being collected at the NHAI’s Paliekkara toll plaza was an apt example of ‘slack accountability’ regarding fixing of toll rate and the condition of the 82-km highway corridor between Edappally in Ernakulam and Paliekkara in Thrissur. “I had petitioned the CBI, seeking a probe into the ‘unscientific’ construction of a flyover at Aluva that did little to ease traffic flow in the town. The structure was built with the sole purpose of including the 28-km Edappally-Angamaly stretch, where a highway already existed, within the ambit of the toll collection. Ultimately, stakeholders will end up collecting over four times the amount that they invested in widening the 54-km Angamaly-Paliekkara stretch. Even worse, the toll amount is frequently revised despite phenomenal increase in number of vehicles. Little is being done to develop bottlenecked junctions in the corridor and to ensure proper service roads wherever needed.”
I had petitioned the Prime Minister thrice on the issue, to which the reply was that my petition was forwarded to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Faced with threats to my life, I was provided protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014. In this situation, motorists and lorry, bus and taxi operators must demand their due in unison, so that fast and safe commuting is possible at least through national highways, Mr. Mundapilly said.
Interestingly, over a dozen new toll plazas are expected to come up in tandem with the commissioning of much of the NH 66 corridor that passes through Kerala by 2025-end, and other highway stretches during the subsequent years. This will see a phenomenal increase in toll collection in the State, and the higher demand for accountability from NHAI.
Container Road
The NH 966 A (better known as Container Road) in Kochi is among the most accident prone, thanks to lack of street lights on the 16-km less-inhabited stretch. The Container Road Vehicle Travellers’ Group and a few other NGOs have been demanding that the NHAI that collects toll install street lights, reflectors, and also enhance other safety measures in the corridor. “We had demanded that the NHAI build service roads from Bolgatty Junction to Mulavukad. But service roads are available only from Bolgatty Junction up to Ponnarimangalam. There are also problems like the ill-lit stretch turning a haven for unauthorised parking by container lorries devoid of reflectors and parking lights, which often caused fatal accidents,” he added.
