Commuters from Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad driving to, and beyond Satara, will no longer have to pay the toll at the Khed-Shivapur plaza

Supriya Sule, MP of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from Baramati announced the decision on Sunday, specifying all vehicles with MH12 and MH14 licence plates will be exempt from the road tax.

This came after protests were held at the toll plaza on Sunday by politicos and activists complaining that the government was charging a toll despite the fact that the Pune-Satara highway (NH4) development has been incomplete for some time now.

On Sunday, at least 1,600 police personnel were deployed at the toll plaza as a security measure.

Sule, who was present at the Khed-Shivapur plaza on Sunday said the decision has been taken to exempt vehicles from Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Bhor, Haveli, Velha, Mulshi and Purandar, from toll, till a decision is taken on closing down the plaza.

"I had a telephonic conversation with Union transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari who is currently out of India. Once he is back, we will meet in Delhi to decide about the toll plaza," said Sule, who along with Khadakwalsa and Bhor MLAs Bhimrao Tapkir and Sangram Thopte, were present during the agitation.

The toll removal action committee is demanding the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza be relocated outside the limits of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA).

Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra minister for public works department said that shifting the toll plaza on Pune Satara road may have some issues and it is under central government. "I do not want to bring in politics here. But the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza is under NHAI and to shift it from one place to another may not be so easy as there is a rule that the distance between two toll plazas should at least be 60 kilometres."

After NHAI officials held a meeting with public representatives, the agitation was called off temporarily, said Thopte.

Pramod Dongre, a resident of Satara who works in Pune said, "I crossed the toll plaza at 3 pm and we were not charged toll. It usually takes more than an hour to just cross the toll plaza at Khed-Shivapur, but today, there was barely any waiting time as vehicles were exempted from paying toll."

This decision to exempt vehicles from toll comes after district collector Naval Kishore Ram directed the NHAI to build additional toll booths and lanes at the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza to ease growing traffic congestion.

"There will be five lanes in the first phase of the work at the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza which will be started in a week. Of the five lanes, two lanes will be dedicated for local commuters. We are trying to find a solution for the locals to get some rebate from the tolls that they have to pay," he said.

According to the orders of the collector, vehicles going from Pune to Satara were routed to Satara via Navale bridge, Katraj chowk, Khadi machine, Saswad and Kapoor,while vehicles arriving from Satara to Pune will enter via Kapurhol Saaswad.

In January, district collector, Naval Kishore Ram had written to the NHAI to take appropriate action against the contractor, hinting at the possibility of shutting down the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza.

The long-pending work of Pune-Satara national highway began in 2010 and was to be completed by March 2013, but even after six years delay work has not been completed by Reliance, which has bagged the contract. The incomplete expansion work has resulted in a chaos of traffic and an increase in toll charges. While Ram had earlier set a deadline of February 2020 to finish the patch work on the road, locals want the toll plaza to be shifted outside PMRDA territory.

Pending project

-Pune Satara highway connects Pune to Satara, Sangli, Karad and Kolhapur

-In 2004, work began on the four-lane highway and it was completed by 2010. Later, the four-lane road was converted into a six-lane road.

-The six-lane work on the Pune-Satara national highway was supposed to be completed by March 2013, but work is still pending

-The toll on Pune-Satara road is Rs 90, one way

-District collector Naval Kishore Ram had earlier set a deadline of February 2020 to finish work on the road