``Since the stay was only up to September 15, Chief Minister Narayan Rane had a marathon meeting with truck operators to resolve the row over levy of toll tax. But since our proposal was unacceptable to them, no decision was taken. Now the government will have to take a unilateral decision,'' a senior government official said.

After the alliance government came to power on March 15, 1995, it embarked on a major project to construct 55 flyovers in the metropolis to tackle traffic congestion. Since it was beyond its capacity to finance the multicrore projects, it set up the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) for the purpose. The corporation inter alia decided to levy toll tax to garner funds for repayment of loans secured for the construction offlyovers.

However, when the process of recovery of toll tax actually began, truck operators launched a massive agitation, prompting the alliance government to keep the decision in abeyance till September 15. Then the government had proposed Rs 50 for buses and trucks, Rs 100 for trawlers and Rs 20 for cars, while vehicles of other categories were exempted.

In view of the strong opposition from truck operators, the public works department and the transport department has proposed a new formula on levy of toll tax. It has proposed that the toll tax on buses and trucks be reduced from Rs 50 to Rs 40, on trawlers from Rs 100 to Rs 50 and on cars from Rs 20 to 15.

In addition, the department has proposed to further grant concessions for purchase of coupons in advance. From the existing concession of 20 per cent on purchase of 100 coupons, it has been proposed to increase it to 42 to 50 per cent, the official added.

Simultaneously, the department has proposed to levy a sales tax of 25 paisa per litre ofpetrol and 30 paisa on diesel. ``From additional sales tax on petrol, we will garner Rs 11 crore, while from diesel we will get Rs 27 crore,'' the official added.

The official said as per the repayment schedule, MSRDC will have to make arrangement for payment of Rs 140 crore. ``Originally, it was proposed to recover the entire amount by way of toll tax. But if the revised formula is accepted, we will collect Rs 75 crore by way of toll tax, while part of the remaining amount will come from sales tax on petrol and diesel and additional financial assistance from Mumbai and Thane Municipal Corporations,'' the official said.

``At the moment, BMC has agreed to pay Rs 25 crore for the project, while we have proposed the contribution should be increased to Rs 32 crore. Though TMC's contribution is nil, the department has proposed Rs four crore,'' the official added.

On the contention of truck operators, the official said they have argued in favour of complete abolition of toll tax. ``Their contention was thattoll tax should not be levied. Instead, the government should levy additional sales tax on petrol and diesel throughout the state,'' the official added.

Under such circumstances, the official said, the government has to resolve the deadlock and it cannot be a silent spectator. ``If we are unable to convince the transport operators to pay toll tax, it will be major setback to privatisation policy. If we are not able to repay the loan secured for flyovers, the alliance government will be in deep crisis,'' the official pointed out.