Toll collection to be stopped at Kolhapur for now, says Chandrakant Patil

Maharashtra public works department minister Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday ordered that toll collection at Kolhapur be discontinued until a committee led by the MSRDC department submits its report on compensation to be paid to the tollbooth contractor.

Incidentally, tollbooth contractor Ideal Road Builders (IRB) has asked the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to pay Rs 249 crore for closing nine tollbooths in Kolhapur city. During a meeting attended by

Mr Patil and MSRDC minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday at the state secretariat, a Kolhapur Anti-Toll Committee delegation asked the government the reason behind evaluating the compensation amount to be paid to IRB, when it has not stated the exact toll amount that it has already collected.

Kolhapur Anti-Toll Committee president N.D. Patil asked the government about the “logic” behind allocation of land to IRB for a period of 90 years for an annual rent of merely one rupee, when the toll contract is valid merely for 30 years.

The Kolhapur Anti-Toll Committee also pointed out that the quality of roads built by IRB is extremely poor, which has been substantiated by the Santoshkumar and K.V. Krishnarao committee, after which a decision was taken to establish the Eknath Shinde Committee. While addressing the Kolhapur Anti-Toll Committee delegation, Mr Patil said, “The Shinde committee will suggest to the government the actual amount which needs to be paid to the contractor as compensation or the money that needs to be recovered from the contractor.”