A city-based citizens’ group, Sajag Nagrik Manch, has demanded the suspension of the toll collection on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway after they came up with the data which purportedly shows that the private contractor had under-reported the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) at the four toll collection booths on the Expressway as calculated in July last year by a margin of over 50 per cent.

The NGO has been keeping a close watch on city’s activities—from infrastructure to development—and has been using the Right to Information tool to expose the lapses in the administrative system.

The private contractor, Ideal Road Builders (IRB), meanwhile, has questioned the very grounds on which the Sajag Nagrik Manch has based its argument.

Vivek Velankar of the Manch said , “In July 2015, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) used the videography method to calculate the number of vehicles passing through the four toll collections booths — Khalapur, Talegaon, Kusgaon and Shedung on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway. This counting was done for a week from July 18 to 24. Activist Sanjay Shirodkar has recently accessed the data using the RTI Act. We have calculated the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) for this week. For comparison with this data, we have taken Average Daily Traffic of 31 days of traffic in July as submitted by the contractor.”

Velankar said, “If we compare these two ADTs, there is a glaring gap in the numbers given by the videographic counting and those given by the contractor. This gap is as big as 50 per cent. We demand that an inquiry be immediately constituted into this and the toll collection be suspended on Pune-Mumbai Expressway. We also demand action against MSRDC officers who had the data with them.”

Responding to these allegations, Virendra D Mhaiskar, CMD of IRB Infrastructure, said “IRB follows ethical practices. Every quarter, we give revenues collected from each of our projects and report plaza-wise data to the MSRDC,” he said, adding, “If there was a variation as alleged by the NGO, then MSRDC would have sought immediate explanation.”

“The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is close-ended tolling and if you enter at one point you pay at that point and not at every toll booth. So, a videographic count of cars is not reflective of the toll collected. The videography cannot determine whether toll was paid or not, which is why it is showing the 50% difference.” he pointed out. “We have been discussing with the MSRDC that it should put in place a Real Time Reporting System like the NHAI has done. This will give live updates and proof in real time of toll collected,” Mhaiskar said.

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