PALAKKAD:An inspection of the 54 kilometre four-lane Walayar-Vadakkanchery highway will take place on Monday to solve the contentious issue of the collection of toll from the commuters, which was suspended within hours of its implementation on the midnight on Friday.
“A follow-up meeting has also been planned for Monday at the Palakkad Collectorate to sort out the issue. Based on the outcome of the meeting, a report will be submitted to the State Government. If a decision can be taken at the district level, it will be implemented”, said the District Collector P Marykutty Isaac.
She said that the MPs, MLAs and the representatives of organisations which complained about the collection of toll would be included in the inspection team so that a conclusive decision can be taken.
Many organisations had opposed the collection of toll until all the remaining works on the service roads, drainage works, installation of street lights and sign boards of the highway are completed. The project director of the NHAI has said that the contractors were within their right to collect toll if 75 per cent of the works were completed.
It has also adopted the position that the lorries coming from the neighbouring states through Walayar cannot park their vehicles on the highway.
The Collector said that a proposal, at an outlay of Rs 4 crore, will be submitted to the Government to make the forest land in Walayar available for setting up a parking bay for the lorries.
Smart cards facility, for those who prefer to pay the toll through the banks, will be introduced for vehicle owners at the toll plaza in Pampampallam.
Meanwhile, the secretary of the Kerala State Lorry Owners Federation, M Nandakumar, said that the claim by the contractors that 75 per cent of the work has been completed was false.
“Only the Walayar-Chandranagar stretch has been completed and almost 50 percent work was pending in the remaining stretches. Moreover, the inspection and submission of report was being done in haste which is unacceptable,” he said.