No probe yet into under-reported traffic data

Almost one year down the line after the internal study on average traffic data initiated by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) in July 2015 had revealed that the private toll-booth operators are under-reporting traffic data, the state government has till date not initiated an inquiry into the matter as to why there is under-reporting on the five entry points of the city and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Instead, MSRDC had countered the same by proposing to bring in real time toll monitoring system, which is yet to become a reality.

A comparison between traffic data provided separately by the MSRDC and private contractors Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL) and IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, had revealed that the private toll contractors have been under-reporting traffic by almost 27 to 50 per cent. While MEPL collects toll on five entry points of the city, IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited collects toll on Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

The MSRDC had appointed the MEPL in 2010-11 to collect tolls at the five entry points of the city till 2027. Earlier, in 2004, IRB Infrastructure was awarded the contract to collect tolls on the 95-km-long Mumbai Pune Expressway, for which the contract is scheduled to expire in 2019. Subsequently, an RTI query filed in December 2015 had revealed a discrepancy of about 50 per cent in the number of average daily traffic (ADT) submitted by the contractor and MSRDC.

However, till date neither the MSRDC nor the state government has initiated any preliminary inquiry on the same. “It is very shocking the state government has not initiated any inquiry into the matter. The MSRDC is justifying that the under-reporting is due to MSRDC taking into consideration the vehicles that are exempted and are of a VIP status, while the private contractors do not take these into consideration. If we go by this calculation almost 50 per cent of the vehicle-entering city is either VIP or is exempted from paying toll,” said Sanjay Shirodkar, an RTI and toll activist.

The Asian Age had reported on January 29, 2016 about how, if we go by the logic of the MSRDC, up to half of all vehicles that enter Mumbai are VIP vehicles. When this newspaper had asked Eknath Shinde, MSRDC minister, he had said in February 2016, “I will check on the same and conduct an inquiry on the under-reporting.” However, Mr Shinde did not respond to calls or text message by this newspaper asking status on the inquiry on under-reporting on Monday.

Chief secretary, Swadheen Kshatriya, said, “I am not aware of any such matter and I will have to verify on the same.”