Authorities reopen Aganampudi toll plaza in Visakhapatnam

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has resumed collections at the Aganampudi Toll Plaza, in Visakhapatnam, from Tuesday (30 July) as per the 2 July verdict of the Supreme Court (SC). Inaugurated in 1998, this toll plaza has been receiving a lot of flak from the public since then.

The residents of Aganampudi and those working in the region have to pay the toll fee while commuting regularly. For the past few years, they had staged several protests against the collection of the toll charges following which the High Court (HC) issued an order to suspend the collections from 8 February 2018. Later on, the NHAI had approached the Supreme Court which dismissed the HC’s orders and ordered for the revival of the toll plaza in favour of the NHAI.

Post the verdict of the Supreme Court, the Aganampudi Area Development Committee members stated that they will make efforts to stop the NHAI from collecting toll charges at the Aganampudi plaza in the best interest of the public. As the residents continue to hope for a positive outcome, the NHAI has hinted that there are chances of the toll gate being shifted to Anandapuram – Anakapalli bypass Highway, in Visakhapatnam, which is expected to be completed by 2021.