Bhubaneswar, Oct. 15: The second tollgate on the road that branches off towards Dhauli from the NH-203 resumed operation today much to the resentment of residents and tourists.

The toll collection at this gate was suspended from March when model code of conduct came into effect ahead of the general elections in May this year.

However, the Dhauli Development Council (DDC) started collecting toll after the contract was awarded to a local resident.

The Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC) has been engaged by the public works department (PWD) to collect toll for construction of blacktop road from NH-203 to the parking lot near the Panthika restaurant. The council, however, is also collecting toll to develop the pagoda and adjacent areas.

While the development council tollgate started functioning in June 2003, the one run by the corporation began in May 2005.

“The functioning of the corporation tollgate began after construction of the Dhauli road during 2003-2005. Last year, it was decided that a coordination meeting between the two agencies will be held in 2014-15 so that a unified collection can be started. However, they held the auction early and we failed to do it due to the model code of conduct. Now, the tourists are paying the price. The state government should intervene and stop the corporation’s tollgate,” said a tourism official.

Tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda said: “We support only one tollgate by the development council near Dhauli so that the money can be used for development work in and around the tourist spot. Two gates near a tourist destination paint a bad picture of the state.”

The Telegraph has done a series of stories on the plight of tourists near Dhauli and how the state’s image is at stake due to faulty decisions.

Former works secretary Subhendu Kumar Ray told The Telegraph in April last year that the state government had already decided for an unified toll collection gate at Dhauli.

Moreover, a senior PWD official last year had even said that from 2014-15 tenders would not be floated for the corporation-run tollgate. This would have meant only one tollgate on the Dhauli road.

Interestingly, Ray is now heading the Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation.

When the corporation’s general-manager Tarakanta Mohapatra was contacted, he said: “We have not received any notice from the works department asking us to stop toll collection in the area. As we are also a government agency, we can only act when we have an official order.”

Mohapatra, however, admitted that one tollgate near a tourist place would be a better option as Dhauli is an important site relating to propagation of Buddhism in the world.

Gopal Chandra Das, a tourist from Calcutta on a trip to Dhauli, said: “There should be one tollgate to avoid any kind of confusion. The Odisha government should immediately take a decision in this regard. It is not projecting the government in a good manner.”

Tour operator Debashish Mohapatra said: “The safety of the tourists near Dhauli should be the prime concern. The authorities should work towards making the area a safe place rather than collecting toll. On the other hand, it should use the money for development of the area.”

He also suggested that the way movement of vehicles is controlled at Seemanchalam, a famous temple in Andhra Pradesh, the same could be replicated here. All vehicles there are parked on the foothill and those controlled by the temple administration ferry tourists to the temple. Similarly, a specialised ferry system can be started in Dhauli that can also bring an end to toll tax, said Mohapatra.