Plan panel open to toll on rural roads

In what could trigger resentment among the rural population,the Planning Commission is open to the suggestion of the Rural Development Ministry...

In what could trigger resentment among the rural population,the Planning Commission is open to the suggestion of the Rural Development Ministry on tolling rural roads to ensure their upkeep.

The suggestion to this effect came this morning from a senior RD ministry official,who highlighted the plight of the rural roads on account of heavy traffic,which impacted them. So the government should evolve some system to generate resources to repair and sometime redevelopment the rural roads,” he said. Endorsing his contention,Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia,while addressing a function on state highways,said,Primarily it (tolling) could begin by charging heavy vehicle that uses rural roads. We could put some toll tax on using rural roads. Though it would not generate much revenue but it would discourage heavy vehicles from using rural roads, he said and added,if such a move comes from any state government or NHAI the planning commission will welcome it. But he hurriedly added that tractors,two-wheelers and cars should be exempted from it.

Asking the state governments to emulate BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh in setting up road transport corporations,Union Road Transport and Highways minister Kamal Nath said,I urge other state governments to create such corporation. This is the time when state agencies should besides doing national highway and state highway work also venture forward for development of district and rural roads. He added if state government establish state road corporation then NHAI will support them to become viable ones. If they need 75 percent work,well give them, Nath added. India has about 71,000 km of national highways,but toll is collected on only 8,500 km. The government plans to increase this to at least 30,000 km in the next five years. The MoRTH ministry has envisaged to collect toll on 30,000 km of national highways in five years.

Naths ministry has recently accepted the Nilekani committees report on electronic mode of toll collection. and has planned to ask the states to adopt the technology. The proposed system would replace physical toll collection at the booths with vehicle-to-roadside communication technologies,thereby performing the monetary transaction between the vehicle and the toll plaza operator.

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