Fruit vendors wait for customers outside the toll tax counter on Gandhi setu in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Sachin

A boon for commuters, the suspension of toll collection on Gandhi setu is proving to be a bane for more than 100 families.

The breadwinners of these families were engaged in selling food items to commuters waiting in spiral queues leading to the tax counters. With the toll collection suspended, the queues have vanished. So have the source of livelihood of these families.

“I used to make at least Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 everyday selling packaged water bottles near the bridge. Vehicles used to stand in queues to pay the toll for at least an hour. But after the suspension of the tax collection, the vehicles are zooming past the counters,” said Ramesh Kumar (30), a packaged water vendor.

He added: “It is good that commuters are not facing any problem. But my business has almost finished now. Where will I go? It seems I will have to search for another place to sell packaged water bottles.”

Banana seller Dinesh Yadav (32) echoed Ramesh. “The suspension of toll collection has made our life tough. I am now forced to run behind the vehicles for selling banana. Few people travelling in two-wheelers and four-wheelers are taking the pain to stop and purchase eatables but that is nothing in comparison to when the toll system was in vogue. My wife now screams at me because stocked bananas rot.”

He added: “Earlier, most of the vehicles used to slow down near the toll counter and the motorists used to call us to purchase our items. But things are different now. Our business is almost over here.”

Peanut seller Akhilesh Kumar said: “Now, we can make some money only if any heavy vehicle develops snag on the bridge.”

Last Friday, the Centre accepted the Bihar government’s proposal to discontinue the practice of collecting toll from vehicles using the Gandhi setu conditionally. Commuters used to wait for hours in spiral queues for paying the toll earlier and buy eatables from vendors.

On an average, over 25,000 heavy vehicles pass through the 5.575-km-long bridge daily.