Reviving his party’s campaign against toll operators, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday to demand transparency in toll operations.
MNS office-bearers at the meeting stressed that an impartial machinery must be put in place by the state government for the same.
They claimed that Chavan had agreed with most of the issues raised by them and had agreed to hold a joint meeting with the MNS leaders and experts, as well as the Public Works Department (PWD) officials, in about a fortnight.
“They (toll operators) are in charge of keeping a record of vehicles passing through the toll nakas (booths) and the money collected. An impartial machinery is necessary to ensure commuters do not get fleeced,” the MNS functionary said.
The MNS had undertaken a survey of vehicles passing through toll nakas and the toll collected at 39 toll plazas in the state. Later, Raj had claimed that toll operators made windfall gains in these contracts and had called on people to stop paying tolls till the state government cleared its stance on the issue.
