We are now a toll paying nation to use the roads and NHAI is doing its bit to make our road journey's as comfortable or uncomfortable as possible. However it is observed that some of the toll roads in spite of the exorbitant toll we pay gives us a bad ride.
One such Toll road is the NH5 also known as AH45 from Chennai to Kolkata, however in this lengthy road there is a stretch which is under BOOT build own operate and transfer between Tada & Nellore. This is managed by a company called Swarna Tollway Limited.
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| road repair work being carried out |
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| Alleged damage done by the Nilam Cyclone |
While this road has been laid by 2002 one of the early birds in the AB Vajpayee's Golden Quadrilateral program, for the early part it has been maintained well or the quality of road laying was better, i don't know. From the time the NHAI has stipulated this stretch for 6 lane expansion we notice no work has started in that direction, though the Chennai - Tada and Nellore - Kavali stretches have already seen some work happening, and quality of the road has also deteriorated, meaning no maintenance has been taken up.
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| Look at the patch up job, it needs re-laying |
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| More Post repair images |
When a friend of mine complained to the NHAI about the quality of the road, he got a reply informing him that due to the recent Nilam cyclone the road got damaged and patch up work is happening. Mail was almost condescending the concessionary. Few days after the mail was received by friend i was travelling on that road and shot the road with my phone as the car was on the move.
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| Post repair images |
From the video you can see the image jumping which is indicating the condition of the road as the car was travelling on a particular stretch. Wonder why the NHAI officials who have allowed the concessionary a 30 year period to milch the revenue from that road are practically defending it by putting the blame on a cyclone, the condition of the road has nothing to do with cyclone but the unstable soil in a particular stretch. The road was laid without considering the soil condition and now the road is sinking in that stretch and the concessionary would like to take as much time as he can take to delay the maintainance works.
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| A crater filled up and being rolled by | an ancient roller |
Will he keep quiet if he is barred from collecting the toll, but as road users we have no choice but to suffer the ride. NHAI which is the custodian of the national highways would prefer to turn a blind eye but allow regular increase in the toll charges irrespective of the condition of the road, wonder who is getting benefited in the process?
Images were supplied by the NHAI engineers along with an explanatory letter blaming the entire damage on 'Nilam' cyclone, in fact my friend had complained that patch up works are not being carriedout as per the norms of the NHAI and we see the supervisors getting the job done in their own august presence, what more evidence is required for complicity.
Interestingly for a stretch of 53.60 kilometers the toll when it was started was Rs.60-00 collected in three locations and today it is Rs.105-00 a jump of 75% from 2003 to 2012 when only 10% is the increase for every 2 years is allowed. Primarily on rounding of the toll itself huge benefit is derived and more over the normal concessional multi entry charge is also not allowed on this stretch.
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