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Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde today announced a full toll waiver for light motor vehicles at all five toll booths for entry into Mumbai. The toll waiver will be in force from midnight on Monday, he said.
The move, which comes ahead of the assembly polls expected later this year, was announced at the state cabinet meeting in Mumbai.
"The toll charges that we have waived today have been the demand of the people for a while. This waiver will continue even when the (assembly) polls are concluded," Mr Shinde said.
Sharing details about the decision, Maharashtra minister Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse said that light vehicles will be exempted from tolls at Dahisar, Anand Nagar, Vaishali, Airoli and Mulund.
All these toll booths were commissioned in 2002. The Maharashtra government had introduced the toll to cover the costs associated with the construction of flyovers in the city.
"Rs 45 to Rs 75 were charged at these tolls and it was in effect till 2026. About 3.5 lakh vehicles, including 2.80 lakh light vehicles, used to travel up and down from these toll plazas," Mr Bhuse told reporters.
"The time that people used to spend in queues will be saved. The government was discussing it for many months and today this revolutionary decision has been taken," he said.
Speaking to NDTV, Naresh Mhaske, the Shiv Sena MP from Thane, said this was a "long pending" demand.
"Mumbaikars are happy after this decision. I come from the Thane district and I felt sad every time I paid toll charges. Now, with free movement, there will be more development in nearby areas," he said.
The Opposition, however, linked the move to the elections.
"You are taking this decision when elections are approaching. You could have stopped the toll earlier but you did not do so," Anand Dubey, the spokesperson of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), said.
He also questioned why heavy vehicles would continue to pay tolls.
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