Over 2,000 toll-free passes issued to devotees travelling to Konkan

THANE: More than 2,500 devotees travelling to their hometown in Konkan for Ganesh Chaturthi got some relief from paying the toll as they were issued a temporary pass through Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
With the massive rush of vehicular traffic on the Mumbai-Goa route during the festive season, the state government had sought to provide motorists some incentives to use the Yeshwantrao Chavan Expressway and drive from Pune-Karad-Kolhapur highway to reach their homes in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.
In the last four days, the traffic department and Regional Transport Office has issued over 2,000 temporary toll-free passes on submission of documents like departure date, vehicle number and destination.
The RTO confirmed that the passes will be given till Thursday evening. Both their offices—one near Central Jail and the ther at Louiswadi— will be handing out the passes from 10am to 6pm.
A resident from Thane Rohit Gawde has welcomed this initiative. He said, “Many Thaneites are from Konkan and they visit their village during this time of the year to celebrate Ganpati festival. Due to this, there is a lot of traffic. Issuing toll-free passes is a good move to divert traffic from Western Maharashtra. Also, the toll-free pass helps to minimise the wait period at the toll booths and traffic moves smoothly. Up till Vengurla in soth Konkan, we have to pass through six toll booths and this cost more than Rs 1,000. The free passes issued cuts downs on the travel cost and the procedure to secure these passes is also hassle-free.”