Stop expressway toll collection,say activists

The RTI Forum for Instant Information (RFII) spokesperson said since 2004-05 the revenue generated from the toll at the expressway has far exceeded the expected amount. But there is no transparency regarding the utilisation of money. The road is not maintained. There is no auditing of the accounts to monitor the funds generated from the expressway traffic.

RTI activist Vivek Velankar said,“As per the contract of MSRDC with Ideal Road Builders (IRB),that collects the toll,IRB is allowed to increase the toll by 18 per cent every three years and toll collection can go on up to 2019. But according to estimates,for instance till the end of 2010-11,Rs 108.38 crore was to be raised from the toll. However in September itself they collected Rs 106.43 crore,so the contract needs to be looked into.”

Members of the RFII,along with other groups from Mumbai,will soon launch a protest campaign and demand toll collection to be discontinued. Activist also alleged that there is lack of transparency in the way the process of toll collection is being monitored. Instead of MSRDC auditing the accounts,a private consultant has been appointed on the recommendation of IRB and the name of the consultants has not been revealed so far,said members of RFII at a press conference.