Tk 9.90 new base toll rate proposed for Mawa expressway

A committee on Sunday proposed Tk 9.90 as the base toll rate for each kilometre of the 55-kilometre-long Dhaka–Mawa–Bhanga expressway connecting to the Padma Multipurpose Bridge now under construction.

Earlier this month, the Roads and Highways Department had proposed Tk 20.18 as the rate for each kilometre of the country’s first-ever expressway.

 

The committee, formed to fix the toll rate for the expressway, in a meeting at the road transport and bridges ministry at the Secretariat reviewed the RHD’s proposed base toll rate and came up with the new rate.

As per the new proposal, the toll for medium trucks is Tk 544.50 and buses Tk 490.50 for crossing the expressway while the tolls in the earlier proposal were Tk 1,110 and Tk 999 for medium trucks and buses respectively.

‘The base toll rate has been proposed for an interim period as a new rate will be introduced after the inauguration of the Padma Bridge,’ Road Transport and Highways Division secretary Md Nazrul Islam told New Age on the day.

The bridge is scheduled to be opened to the traffic by June 2022.

Nazrul said that the toll rate for the expressway then would be increased as the Bridges Division would collect separate toll for using the bridge.

The proposed toll rate for the expressway now awaits approval from the road transport minister Obaidul Quader and the Finance Division, he added.

The new base toll rate includes the charges for using three bridges on the expressway, the China-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge known as the Buriganga Setu, the Dhaleshwari Bridge and the Arial Khan Bridge, said Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh secretary general Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, a committee member.

Currently the Road Transport and Highways Division and the Bridges Division under the road transport ministry collect tolls for using various bridges but not for any highway, as stipulated by the Toll Policy 2014.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on September 3, 2019 directed the authorities concerned to impose tolls on all the major highways across the country to raise funds for their maintenance.

Following the instruction, the authorities have taken the initiative to fix toll rates for various highways and expressways.

Earlier on January 3 this year, the RHD in a meeting proposed Tk 20.18 as the base toll rate for each kilometre of the Dhaka–Mawa–Bhanga expressway, when a committee was formed to fix the toll rates.

The 19-member committee consists of road transport ministry officials, transport leaders and rights activists.

RTHD secretary Md Nazrul Islam said that the tolls for various vehicles would be fixed based on the base toll rate under the toll policy.

According to Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology civil engineering department professor Shamsul Hoque, the users have to bear the pressure when any kind of surcharge is imposed on the use of roads.

As the Dhaka–Mawa–Bhanga corridor is the economic backbone of the country the government could impose tolls for maintenance purposes, he observed.

‘Besides, when the authorities collect road tolls they have also the responsibility to provide quality services to the users of the roads,’ he added.  

The four-lane Dhaka–Mawa–Bhanga expressway is divided into two sections — one from the Jatrabari crossing to Mawa along with the Ekuria and Babubazar link roads and the other from Pacchor to Bhanga.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in March 2020 formally inaugurated the expressway built at a cost of Tk 11,003 crore.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/129521/tk-990-new-base-toll-rate-proposed-for-mawa-expressway