First toll booth in Idukki to be opened at Devikulam today

Local CPI unit protests against the venture; says toll booth plan is to favour corporates

(with pic)

The first toll booth at Devikulam, near Munnar, in Idukki on the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway, which will also be the first in the district, will be opened on Monday.

According to the officials, the toll booth was set up at Lockhart, near Devikulam, on the Munnar-Bodimettu route of the National Highway. The official announcement regarding the toll booth said that it would start functioning at 8 a.m. on Monday morning. The monthly pass applicable to local non-commercial vehicles residing within a radius of 20 km has been fixed at ₹330 per month.

The road-widening works of the 42-km-long Munnar-Bodimettu stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway in Munnar was started in September 2017. However, many issues, including landslips on the Gap Road stretch causing large-scale damage, delayed the works. It passes through hills and tea plantations, and the road has emerged as a major tourist attraction. Yet the inauguration of the stretch that is part of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway as well as the new bridge at Cheruthoni across the Periyar downstream of the Idukki reservoir has not yet been held.

According to officials, the inauguration of the projects was postponed due to the unavailability of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPI) Devikulam mandalam committee called a toll booth blockade on Monday at 11 a.m. According to the mandalam secretary T. Chandrapal, the Roads and Highways Ministry has already spent money on the construction of the roads, and installing a toll booth at Devikulam aims to help the corporates. Officials should take immediate steps to remove the toll booth, he said. Otherwise, the party would hold serial protests. CPI State council Member M.Y. Ouseph will inaugurate the toll booth blockade on Monday.