NH to collect fee at 3 tolls on Villupuram Vellore section

CHENNAI: Weeks after two new toll plazas were opened on the Tiruchy-Chidambaram Highway, the NHAI has notified user fee collection on three toll plazas on the Vellore-Villupuram section of NH 234 taking the total number of tolls plazas in the state to 53.

The NHAI has published a notification under the NH Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules 2008 to collect user fees from the road users in the Vellore-Villupuram section of the National Highways at Vallam in Vellore, Enamkariyandal in Tiruvannamalai and Thennamadevi in Villupuram.

According to the NHAI sources, the NH wing of the State Highways Department has developed the 121 km stretch of the Vellore-Tiruvannamalai-Villupuram section into a two-lane with paved shoulder road with the funding of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. “The state highways have handed over the road to the NHAI for further maintenance and collection of user fees. The work on the road was completed two to three years ago and the public was using the road since then. We have now published notification to collect user fees at Vallam, Enamkariyandal and Thennamadevi toll plazas from mid-June onwards,” sources said.

The highways sources said that as the toll collection was to be started two to three years after the project was completed, there was public opposition to it. “We are facing issues over the collection of user fees near Virudhachalam on the Cuddalore-Salem section of NH 532. In the same section, we are collecting user fees at Keelkuppam near Chinnasalem. We have appointed agencies for the collection of the user fees at a toll plaza near Virudhachalam, but we are unable to commence it due to various issues,” sources added. The Cuddalore-Salem section was also developed by the state highways and handed over to the NH, sources said.

Are you in Chennai? Then click here to get our newspaper at your doorstep!