Although, NHAI is capable to undertake the job on cash contract basis, so that people do not have to pay toll, still it wants to opt for hybrid annuity basis of financial scheme and will now levy toll on motorists.
Over four-decades-old Vasai Creek bridge on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, also known as the Varsova Creek bridge, will now get replaced by a new one. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has initiated the process to construct a new four-lane creek bridge.
Although, NHAI is capable to undertake the job on cash contract basis, so that people do not have to pay toll, still it wants to opt for hybrid annuity basis of financial scheme and will now levy toll on motorists.
As per the documents accessed by dna, in September 2015, NHAI floated bids for construction of the 2.25km Varsova Creek bridge, on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) financial model. By December, however, it cancelled the project worth Rs165.07 crore.
Then in March, bids were floated for the project again, but with a higher cost and a different financial model. This time, the project cost went up by Rs23.34 crore in just six months. The financial model for implementation also changed to hybrid annuity.
This means, earlier the NHAI had plans to absorb the expenditure but now it wants the motorists to bear the cost. "We would first construct the bridge on the downstream (left side of the existing structure, if headed towards Ahmedabad) and then dismantle the old one," said an NHAI official. He, however, refused to explain the decision to change the financial model. According to him, the policy decision was taken by the NHAI and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
A new creek bridge is needed as the oldest of the twin bridges has been servicing motorists for over 44 years now. Then in 2000, serious cracks were spotted on the bridge leading to urgent repairs. Then in 2014, the two-lane old bridge was closed for major repairs, which got stuck in a bottleneck. A girder had to be replaced and it took six months (December 25, 2013 to June 6, 2014) to make it fit for operations. While the repair was being done, motorists had a harrowing time in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The new four-lane structure is expected to be ready by August 2017.
EPC
The contractor does the ground work of constructing a project and gets paid by the government. The private agency is not given a right to collect revenue from the public.
Hybrid annuity
The hybrid annuity model is a combination of EPC and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) models. The government will pay 40% of the cost and the balance is to be invested by the private player, which will be recovered by levying toll on vehicles.
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