KOCHI: The newly-introduced 'perpetual toll' on the Aroor-Edappally stretch has been put on hold for the next two days. "The matter will be discussed in the Cabinet meeting scheduled on Wednesday. High-ranking officials from NHAI will attend the meeting in Thiruvananthapuram," PWD Minister V K Ibrahim Kunju said. The discussion was held in the presence of Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies K V Thomas, Excise Minister K Babu, MLAs Hibi Eden, Dominic Presentation and Benny Behnan, District Collector Sheik Pareed and National Highways Authority director C T Abraham. "The demand to annul the toll is not viable as it will adversely affect the national policy," said K V Thomas. He assured them that steps would be taken to sort out the issues soon. "The state government could not take an unilateral decision as it would affect NHAI's package to Kerala. We are not self-reliant to take up any PWD work without NHAI aid," said Excise Minister K Babu. Hibi Eden, MLA, also said that toll rates were standardised. "Instead of demanding their removal we have asked for a relaxation," he said.Hashim Chennampally of the National Highway Protection Council said, "If the authorities could not come up with a feasible solution, we have decided to strongly protest from Thursday," he said.
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