Rs 1,079cr toll collected on Kanyakumari NH since inception

Madurai: The four toll plazas on the Madurai-Kanyakumari stretch of the national highway have collected Rs 1,079 crore as toll since their inception from eight-to-nine-years ago to August this year, said National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) public information officer and project director for Madurai V Saravanan in a reply given to the queries raised by RTI activist R Pandiaraja.
But, the queries pertaining to the poor maintenance of the highway are among those that remain unanswered.
The replies states that Rs 256.71 crore has been collected at Kappalur toll plaza in Madurai since September 10, 2012. At the Etturvattam toll plaza near Sattur in Virudhunagar district Rs 271.05 crore has been collected from August 15, 2011. Rs 274.58 crore has been collected in the Salaipudur toll plaza, Tuticorin district, and Rs 276.75 crore in the Nanguneri toll plaza, Tirunelveli district, from May 23, 2011.
“The end date (for toll collection) has not been decided as it depends on capital cost, expenditure incurred during operation and maintenance and others,” added a reply from the NHAI. M/s CDR and Co has taken up maintenance work on the stretch. On the terms and conditions of maintaining the four-lane road, the NHAI has replied that it will be “as per the respective contract agreement”.
Also questions on how frequently the highway is to be re-laid and plans to re-lay the road and work in progress they replied that overlay shall be done as per the TOT agreement condition. Since the replies lack clarity and have not served the purpose, the petitioner said that he will go for an appeal seeking proper answers. Pandiaraja blamed poor maintenance as a major reason for many accidents on the highway.
“The purpose of my queries is to find out the periodicity and terms of maintenance to make the busy highway safer for commuters. They have replied that only 50 km between Madurai and Virudhunagar has been overlaid in July 2018. The other stretches are yet to be overlaid. They added that the other stretches have been included under the scope of TOT concessionaire,” the petitioner told TOI.