08 May,2024 06:55 AM IST | Mumbai | Diwakar Sharma
MTHL is India’s longest sea bridge, with a length of 21.8 km. File Pic/Rane Ashish
The country's longest sea bridge, Atal Setu, also known as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, connecting the island city to Raigad district, has collected toll amounting to over Rs 22.57 crore in around three and a half months since its inauguration. This was revealed in a response by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to an RTI query.
Immediately after the inauguration of the bridge by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Right to Information (RTI) activist Ajay Bose filed an application on January 18 requesting the MMRDA to share details like the number of vehicles that pass on the stretch after January 12 to April 23, and the total toll amount collected from these vehicles.
"The MMRDA took a long time to respond to me. I had to approach the appellate authority to seek the details which were shared with me a few days ago," Bose told mid-day. According to Bose, the MMRDA revealed that a total of 11,07,606 vehicles passed through the Atal Setu between January 12 and April 23, with Rs 22.57 crore collected as toll during the period.
The sea link can accommodate all types of vehicles, including LMVs, buses, and multi-axle vehicles. The RTI response revealed that more than 10 lakh vehicles that passed were cars/jeeps/vans, while the rest were mini-buses and multi-axle vehicles. "Cars, jeeps, and vans using the bridge generated the highest revenue, amounting to more than Rs 20 crore," Bose said.
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The 21.8-km-long Atal Setu is a R17,500 crore engineering marvel comprising a 16.5-km marine section and a 5.5-km elevated road on land. It was believed that the sea link would alleviate the traffic congestion that Mumbaikars experience during morning and evening peak hours. However, this hasn't been the case. Over three months after its inauguration, motorists still find themselves stuck in traffic jams within the city due to bottlenecks at the entry point to the sea link near Sewri.
