Motorists travelling from the steel city to Ranchi will now have to pay toll tax at two places with a new toll plaza becoming operational at Gidhibera on Kandra-Chowka Road from Tuesday.

The new plaza is just 6km from the existing one at Kandra on Tata-Kandra Road in adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district.

“I used to pay Rs 15 toll at Kandra plaza for using the Tata-Kandra Road that goes to Ranchi after crossing the Kandra-Chowka road. But today, I had to pay toll at the new plaza barely 6km from the Kandra plaza. This is a very absurd step of the state government,” said businessman Ram Gyani, a resident of Adityapur while talking to The Telegraph.

Sonari-based businessman S.K. Singh, who has an industrial unit at Adityapur, said that he has to travel to Ranchi frequently for business.

“One has to wait for long to pay toll at the Kandra plaza. But today, I had to pay toll twice, thanks to the government to coming up with one more plaza. The second toll gate should not have been set up at all, Singh told The Telegraph.

The new toll plaza at Gidhibera has been set up by state road construction department (RCD) after a private construction company, Jharkhand Road Accelerated Development Company (JARDCL), had built the road a year ago.

Significantly, according to a circular of the RCD, a toll plaza should not be set up within 40km of another.

RCD executive engineer (Seraikela) Dinesh Kumar Rajak said the department had set up the new toll plaza considering the revenue aspect.

“The Kandra-Chowka road is 14km long and commuters should not feel harassed if they have to pay toll. Moreover, the Kandra-Chowka road was widened and modified a year ago by JARDCL on a PPP mode. Collection of toll on that road is not at all unwarranted despite another plaza nearby at Kandra,” said Rajak.

The executive engineer admitted that there was a rule for not setting up another plaza within 40km of another one.

He asserted that the Gidhibera plaza had been set up on a special condition in accordance to the existing government rules.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Legal Advisory and Development Organisation (JLADO) wrote to the chief secretary demanding immediate suspension of toll collection from the new plaza.

“The RCD has violated its own rule and has set up another toll gate at Gidhibera. The state government must exempt private car owners from paying toll twice on the same route even if it charges commercial vehicles,” JLADO president Om Prakash said, adding that they would launch an agitation if the state government did not pay heed to their demand and removed the toll plaza.