Heavy toll for NICE drive

Heavy toll for NICE drive
DH News Service,Bangalore:
Already embroiled in litigation over key issues involved in the implementation of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor, its promoter, the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) on Wednesday delivered a shocker to motorists.

In a quiet move, it announced its decision to collect toll from Thursday from motorists who would be using the 41-km Peripheral Road and the 9.8-km Link Road. The toll will be the highest in the country and will be in force until December 31 when it can exercise the option of revising it, at an annual rate of 10 per cent increase.

Now the toll: for cars taking the 7.5-km Hosur Road-Bannerghatta Road stretch of the Peripheral Road, the toll is Rs 21, while it is much higher at Rs 31 for the 9.8-km Link Road stretch. This works out to Rs 2.83 and Rs 3.16 per km, respectively. For bus, the per-km fee will be Rs 7.57 and 7.95, respectively.
In comparison, cars using the 28-km Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway (that too mostly 8-lane as opposed to the 4-lane NICE roads) pay a toll of just 61 paise per km while the buses pay a reasonable fee of Rs 1.82 per km. (See Chart).

A quick comparison with the toll for the 71-km stretch on the four-lane highway from Makhanpur to Etawah (Uttar Pradesh), notified by the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways on September 25, 2008, shows how steep the NICE fees are. For cars, jeeps and vans on the Uttar Pradesh road, the single entry fee was fixed at Rs 50.

When contacted, NICE spokesman cited the Toll Concession Agreement signed in 2000 to justify the extremely high toll.

The NICE spokesperson asserted that their toll was not high at all. “It is designed in such as manner that the users will realise that money is actually saved considering the facilities and quality of the road.”

Govt informed: NICE

The base year for calculation of toll on the NICE road was taken as 1998. The spokesperson said NICE was allowed a 10 per cent escalation of the fee every year over the previous year’s toll. But was the Government's clearance sought for the escalation or fixing the rate? “We were required to inform the Government, and we have done that. It is a simple mathematical formula,” he said.

Citing the agreement again, the spokesperson said the company was permitted to collect the toll as and when the sections were completed
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The toll will be collected at the exit points instead of the entry points. The Peripheral Road has eight such interchanges, where the toll will be collected. “Unlike other toll roads, where motorists have to pay a standard rate from point A to point B, the fees will be collected only for the stretch taken. On entry, the motorist will be issued a ticket and at the exit point, the length and rate will be calculated,” explained the spokesperson.
Once fully completed, the Peripheral Road from its junction with Hosur Road till its intersection with Tumkur road will have a total length of 41 kilometres. The length of the completed sections of the Peripheral Road ranges from 6.5 km to 15.5 km.

The Peripheral Road was designed to connect the National Highways 7 and 4 passing through Bangalore City, and link them to the BMIC, which is approximately 111 kilometres.

The Link Road is approximately nine kilometres long, connecting the Expressway to the State Highway 17. The project also has an Elevated Link Road of approximately three kilometre length, connecting the Link Road to downtown Bangalore.

The contentious BMIC project was designed as a four-lane road expandable to six lanes in future. The design also took into account the safety of vehicles travelling at a speed of 120 kmph.
Suitable provisions were to be made for grade separated interchanges to serve as link for townships.