THOOTHUKUDI: Fourteen years after commissioning, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has finally heeded to the demands of locals and decided to relocate the toll plaza at Pudurpandiyapuram, which is located on the Thoothukudi-Madurai National Highways (NH38), 10 km away from the Thoothukudi corporation limit.
The shifting of the toll plaza will benefit motorists approaching from East Coast Road (ECR), which has been in major demand for several years.
The current location of toll plaza is hardly one kilometre from the Thoothukudi corporation limit, which violates section eight of the National Highways Fee Rule 2008, which states that a toll plaza should be set up at least 10 km away from municipal or local town boundaries.
Also, local residents, lorry owners, and drivers’ associations have been demanding to shift the toll plaza stating vehicles plying between nearby villages and industrial zones had to pay fee, though they do not use the entire NH stretch.
Also, those using the ECR had to pay toll since the plaza is located right before the ECR-link road junction.
Official sources said that Rs 1,880 crore was invested along the 128 km long Thoothukudi-Madurai NH for periodic overlaying, maintenance, and other utilities. Commissioned in 2011, the NH stretch is one of the busiest routes to the VOC port, with around 7,200 cars, 1,300 buses, 2,700 multi-axle vehicles plying through this route everyday, and the Pudurpandiyapuram toll plaza has generated a revenue of Rs 59 crore in 2022-23, Rs 70 crore in 2023-24, and Rs 76 crore in 2024-25.
When asked why the toll plaza was not built at the right place during the road construction, a senior official said that NHAI had agreed with a private contractor to develop the stretch in 2006, which is two years before the National Highways Fee Rules were framed.
Shivam Sharma, NHAI project director, told TNIE that the department had proposed to shift the toll plaza to any place beyond 10 km from the boundary of the Thoothukudi corporation. It could be near Valasamudram and Jegaveerapandiapuram.
He added, “The process includes place selection by higher officials, traffic survey, and field inspection. The toll plaza would be relocated by December 2026. However, there is no proposal to shift the Vagaikulam toll plaza in Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli (NH-138).”
Welcoming this move, Subburaj, Thoothukudi lorry booking agents association president, extended his gratitude to Kanimozhi Karunanidhi for making this happen.
