KOCHI: Though the contractors of the Mattanchery BOT bridge continue with toll collection even after they recovered more than thrice the amount spent by them for the purpose, the state government still remains a mute spectator. The state government hasn't submitted the details, like the amount collected by the company all these years, before the arbitration panel so far.As the counsel of the state government repeatedly failed to appear before the court, the arbitration panel passed the ex parte verdict allowing the company to go ahead with the toll collection till the final order is issued. According to the information divulged by GCDA, Gammon India Ltd, the contractors of the bridge, has collected around `36 crore till April, 2011. According to the agreement entered into between the state government and Gammon India Ltd, the former should get `25 crore. According to the company, they had spend `18 crore for constructing the bridge. So they demanded an additional `7 crore for collecting the toll. It is as per the details provided by Gammon India Ltd that the GCDA gave the information that the company collected `36 crore till April. "In 2009, the Kerala High Court had ordered the GCDA to stamp its seal on all the toll tickets. But the GCDA failed to do the job properly," said Khalid Mundapilly, RTI activist. He had moved the Kerala High Court to put an end to the toll collection. "The GCDA just stamp its seal on the tickets brought by the company. According to the court directive, the GCDA should have provided the tickets. So there would have been proper accounts regarding the toll collection," he said.Most of the organisations are on the warpath against the unfair toll collection. The NHAI had to stop the toll collection at Kumbalam on NH 47 following strong protests by the locals and many other organisations. Sensing that there may be similar incidents, the Gammon India Ltd has moved the court demanding police protection.
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