State firm on entry fee for outside vehicles, says Sudin

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: Transport Minister Ramakrishna Sudin Dhavalikar reiterated his government’s commitment to charge an entry fee on vehicles registered outside Goa, justifying the action since other States charge highway toll or fee for entering places of tourist interest.

If any of us has to go to Shirdi, and there are many of us who go to Shirdi including MLAs, there the toll is some Rs 400, to travel to Bangalore via Belgaum the toll is some Rs 600. In Bangalore, you have to pay a fee to enter the Tipu Sultan palace, the garden, and other places. But here, there is no toll/fee anywhere and yet after entering you get to see good beaches, museums and other places of historical importance, Dhavalikar observed.

He also stressed how the roads even in rural areas of the State are hot mixed and are smooth, whereas in these States in rural areas there are no roads and the hot mixing is saved only for the State highways and even district roads have rough asphalt.

The revenue that we earn will be used for maintaining these roads, Dhavalikar said. He also promised to upgrade the check posts and connect them to the Goa Broadband Network (GBBN) by turning them into computerised check posts.

“It costs money to go to Shirdi, Bangalore and visit Tipu Sultan palace. Why should they oppose? Rural roads are good, and the cost of keeping roads in good condition is high. Entry tax is for the quality of the roads,” he said, adding, “Pernem and Dharbandora remain to be computerized. All check posts are connected to GBBN network and only Keri check post remains to get connectivity to GBBN,“ Dhavalikar said.

The minister also promised to set up a Road Training Institute at Farmagudi with a training track for which the acquisition of 85,000 sq mts of land, opposite the GVM’s College, is in the final stages. The minister also promised to implement the Ponda traffic management plan for which Rs 25 crore has been earmarked in the budget. Other issues like that of the unused bus stands, were also discussed in the House.