Bhubaneswar: Different toll gates spread in Khurda, Puri and Cuttack districts— places that were mostly affected by the cyclonic storm of Fani in the month of May this year— was successful in collecting toll taxes to the tunes of crores.
According to an RTI reply from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the five toll plazas across the three districts were able to collect a total of Rs 29.30 crore as toll taxes in the month of May this year. This was at a time when the cyclone had hit the areas, resulting in large scale destruction of infrastructure.
According to the reply from the central department, the highest collection from the toll plazas was from Manguli toll plaza in Cuttack which was able to collect Rs 13.67 crore in the month. The second highest collection was done from Gudipada toll plaza in Khurda district which was able to collect Rs 5.78 crore during the month.
Many aggrieved citizens affected by the cyclone had requested the Union government through social media sites to exempt toll taxes when rescue workers, NGOs, health workers and other development works were carried out in full swing to help the aggrieved, but all the requests fell on deaf ears as the toll plazas continued to make fat business by collecting taxes from the vehicles ferrying in the affected areas.
The woes of Fani-hit commuters were also magnified by the toll plazas at that time as most of them had stopped collecting taxes via electronic means (including debit/credit card payments or through fast tags).
“The toll plazas added to our woes manifold. Due to power outage and failed systems, ATMs were cash-strapped and people started suffering especially in the initial 15 days. Many families wanted to go outside the three most affected districts. But the toll plazas continued to force people to pay only in cash at the time of distress,” said Sandhya Nayak, a resident of Bhubaneswar.