The Panvel Toll Naka Issue Everything You Needed to Know

The citizens of Panvel, Kharghar, Kalamboli, Kamothe and other areas have been given respite from
the Kharghar Toll. Vehicles with licence plates MH-46 and MH-06 will not be charged toll. This is
heartening news for the people who were protesting against the toll naka at the destination. The
actions and resulting discussions have taken interesting turns.

The anti-toll protest had been spearheaded young Indian politicians and Panvel MLA Prashant
Thakur, part of the Indian National Congress. They staged a street protest on the day of the
inauguration of the toll plaza. As a result, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan held a
meeting with Prashant Thakur assuring the latter that his demands would be met. Vehicles with
licence numbers MH-46 and MH-06 were thus exempted from the toll. Also, he proposed to
formulate a committee of young Indian politicians including Prashant Thakur to check the feasibility
of eliminating all toll plazas from Maharashtra. Further updates on it are pending.

This toll naka was proposed for recovering the 1,220 crores paid by Public Works Department (PWD)
for building the road from Kharghar to Panvel. After the original plan of the toll plaza was shelved,
Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar opined that CIDCo should pay the amount, which
CIDCo openly denied. Just because an organization is cash rich, it doesnt mean we look after the
whole of India, said an official. How can we put all our money in one road project simply because it
falls in our jurisdiction? The jury is still out on this debate.
With an eye on the 2014 Maharashtra Elections, each politician seems in the mood to score brownie
points for his party. The Panvel toll plaza issue is running in circles when the resolution could have
been simpler. However, what matters is that the issue of public interest has been taken care of for
now. No one knows how the 2014 Maharashtra Elections will pan out, and what decisions the ruling
party may take after that.
The outcome of election results in Maharashtra, Bihar and 9 other states to be held this year holds
the key to Indias future in the next few years. The BJP had a thumping victory in the Central Lok
Sabha elections this year, but needs the support of state governments to be able to implement
policies which it considers beneficial. If the BJP comes into power in these State governments,
pushing these policies will become substantially easier. However, other parties come into power,
they may thwart the BJPs attempts to implement policies and legislations, making the latters
campaign for the 2017 Elections difficult. Hence we are seeing a lot of clamour over proposed
policies. Many populist moves like reservation for Muslims and Marathas in Maharashtra (which will
mostly be rejected) and proposing and later withdrawing the Panvel toll plaza are hogging the news.
We need young Indian politicians to take some radical steps which surprise common man and are
aimed at progress and development. However, the possibilities of it appear quite bleak. For now, we
can ensure that we vote and bring the right politicians who canvass growth and development to
power.