School bus drivers cause ruckus at the Kharghar toll plaza, block traffic

Traffic towards the Vashi bound stretch on the Sion-Panvel highway was disrupted for more than 30 minutes at the Kharghar toll plaza on Thursday morning.

At around 10 am, drivers of school buses claimed to be belonging to local corporator blocked all the toll gates, demanding toll exemption. As a result of which long traffic snarls were reported during morning peak hours.

Also read: Light motor vehicles to get waiver at Kharghar toll plaza from June 1

After the state government announced waiver for Light Motor Vehicles (LMV) at the new Kharghar-Kamothe toll plaza on the Sion-Panvel highway, agencies running school buses expressed displeasure and demanded similar exemption for them from the state government. However, government made toll fee a compulsion for commercial vehicles, resulting in agitators blocking the toll gates near Kharghar.

The Kharghar toll plaza

It was only after police intervention that they moved their vehicles from the toll plaza.

The Maharashtra government announced closure of 12 toll plazas from the midnight of May 31 while exempting cars, jeeps and state transport buses from paying toll at 53 other such booths.

Also read: After exemption, motorists want dedicated lanes at tolls

Meanwhile, a decision to exempt LMVs at Mumbai entry points and Mumbai-Pune expressway toll is yet to come, as the state government has appointed a special committee to study the issue.