Congress threatens stir on toll hike issue

New Delhi, Jul 7:

today threatened to launch an agitation if the

for commercial vehicles entering Delhi was not rolled back immediately and a fresh tender for selecting concessionaire was not issued within next 15 days.

The 36.4 per cent hike in the toll tax came into effect from July 1, said leader of the Opposition in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mukesh Goel, claiming that despite the hike, the three civic bodies are incurring "huge losses". Goel said a study by Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research had suggested a basic reserve price of Rs 1,574 crore per year and with the 36.4 per cent hike, the concessionaire was supposed to pay Rs 179 crore per month (annual Rs 2,146 crore).

But the concessionaire was paying Rs 425 crore annually, he claimed. "Thus the corporations were suffering a loss of Rs 1,721 crore per year," Goel alleged citing the study, and added the concessionaire's contract has been "illegally extended". "If the hike is not taken back immediately and a fresh tender is not issued within 15 days, the Congress party will launch an agitation to demand a CBI inquiry into the matter," he said. Attacking the three BJP-led civic bodies, he said that "we will sit on dharnas at the civic centre. And, if our demands are not met, we will press for a CBI inquiry into the case," he said.

PTI