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AP Govt urged to shift toll plaza from Kaza
Traffic at Kaza toll plaza on the National Highway No 16 between Guntur and Vijayawada increased from around 11 lakh to more than 12 lakh vehicles per annum after the announcement of Amaravati as the capital city by the state government in 2014. It strengthens the demand of the general public for shifting of the toll plaza, local residents in both Vijayawada and Guntur corporations said.
Amaravati: Traffic at Kaza toll plaza on the National Highway No 16 between Guntur and Vijayawada increased from around 11 lakh to more than 12 lakh vehicles per annum after the announcement of Amaravati as the capital city by the state government in 2014. It strengthens the demand of the general public for shifting of the toll plaza, local residents in both Vijayawada and Guntur corporations said.
The offices of the state government are spread across the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) area, including the Secretariat and Assembly at Velagapudi in Tullur mandal, offices of the heads of departments, commissionerates, corporations, public sector undertakings and other offices at Ibr ahimpatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur.
As the rush of officials and visitors increased here, there is a heavy traffic on the National Highway. Earlier, the locals and officials demanded that the Toll Plaza must be shifted from Kaza village to somewhere between Guntur and Chilakaluripet on the National Highway.
Meanwhile, the NHAI confirmed that there was no proposal for shifting of the toll plaza. T Srinivas, Project Director of NHAI at Project Implementation Unit in Amaravati, while speaking to The Hans India explained that the toll plaza was allowed to continue there at Kaza village as per the Concession Agreement concluded between NAHI with Vijayawaada Tollway Private Limited in 2008 and the agreement could not be violated unless the Union Minister for Roads and Transportation gives permission through certain provisions in the agreement.
He said that the project was taken up at a cost of Rs 675.38 crore for a stretch of 82.5 km as per the Concession Agreement and the total expenditure till now was Rs 1,282.44 crore, explained the NHAI project director in a Right to Information Act query. The toll tax collected till October 31, 2017 was Rs. 841.48 crore. The agreement entered for 15 years and the toll plaza will continue there till 2024.
K Srinivasa Rao, a resident at Guntur, said that the state government should request the Central government to shift the location to some other place. Since, the toll plaza was there before announcing Amaravati as the capital city, the Central government allowed it to continue at the same place as per their agreement.
Pedda Reddy, working in the state government, said that this was an extra burden on the employees who have been shuttling between Vijayawada and Guntur on a regular basis.
