GUWAHATI, May 18 - The Office of the Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping is looking into the complaints regarding collection of toll from vehicles on the Kolia Bhomora Bridge on the Brahmaputra. The Joint Secretary (Toll) of the ministry has been entrusted with the responsibility of looking into the matter.
The action of the union ministry came following a complaint by advocate Nayan Moni Hazarika of Gauhati High Court, who moved the Union Road Transport Minister over the continuous collection of toll � that too at exorbitant rates � at the bridge even after nearly 30 years of the bridge�s inauguration in 1987.
To make matters worse, the rate of collection of toll which was minimal for some years increased drastically once the gate was handed over to private lessees.
�Since a huge amount has already been collected from the Kolia Bhomora Bridge toll gate since 1987 for recouping the cost of construction of the bridge, at this stage the bridge should be a toll-free bridge and the toll gate should immediately be removed in the greater interest of the common people. Being a welfare state, the Government should not impose/collect toll in perpetuity,� Hazarika said in his petition to the ministry.
Hazarika also referred to the frequent harassment the owners of private and commercial vehicles suffer at the hands of the toll collectors, saying it had become a serious problem.
�The table of fee/toll authorized to be collected by the executing agency or his authorized representative is also not put up at an appropriate place. The bridge was constructed by investing a huge amount of money, which was actually the taxpayers� money. Therefore, arbitrary collection of toll at a high rate for recouping the money cannot be perpetuated for so long a period,� he said.
The bridge, which connects Koliabor on the south bank with Tezpur on the north bank, owes its name to Ahom General Kolia Bhomora Borphukan who had chosen that site for the construction of a bridge on the Brahmaputra way back in the early 16th century. He even gathered materials for the purpose but his premature death resulted in shelving the project.
