NHAI grants local vehicles temporary relief from toll

PUNE: Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have decided to meet Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to sort out the ongoing issue of Khed-Shivapur toll plaza.

To protest against the delayed road repair work on Pune-Satara highway, members of the ‘Shivapur Toll Naka Hatao Samiti’ organised a protest on Sunday.

The protest came to a halt after NHAI officials decided to provide temporary relief in paying toll to locals and vehicles of Pune, Bhor, Velha, Mulshi and Pimpri Chinchwad.

The officials have decided to meet Gadkari, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, in eight days, after which the decision on the relief from toll will be taken.

The protest was called off after a written assurance from NHAI. The protesters are demanding relocation of the toll plaza following the bad shape of the Pune-Satara highway. 

Armed with flags and posters, the protest started at around 10 am. MP Supriya Sule too participated in the protest. A large number of the police force was deployed to maintain law and order situation in the area. 

Traffic on the Pune-Satara highway was diverted via Kapurhol Chowk towards Saswad and vehicles heading from Pune towards Satara were diverted via Navle Bridge-Katraj Chowk-Khadi Machine Chowk-Saswad-Kapurhol.

Speaking about the protest, Sule said that a firm decision on the issue will be taken after speaking to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

“Until the decision is taken, vehicles from Pune, Bhor, Velha, Mulshi, Purandar and Pimpri Chinchwad will not have to pay toll,” she said. 

Police officials said that traffic on Pune-Satara Road was free-flowing after the protest was called off at around 1.30 pm.

Mauli Darvatkar of ‘Shivapur Toll Naka Hatao Samiti’ said that they will not back down and will continue the protest if the authorities fail to provide good roads to citizens. As per Darvatkar, the work of road repair and necessary bridges on the highway stretch has been pending for many years and the authorities continued to collect toll from locals, which led them to hold the protest. The ‘Shivapur Toll Naka Hatao Samiti’ had also approached District Collector Naval Kishore Ram to insist on speedy completion of the work. However, the road repair and completion of bridges continues to move at a slow pace.

NHAI Director Suhas Chitnis assured that he will coordinate on the issue with Gadkari in the forthcoming meeting.