``Our main source of income is the toll and we need to start earning as soon as possible,'' Gadkari said. He claimed motorists would not feel the pinch as the toll would be collected only at the five entry points to the city.

Moreover, he added, two-wheelers and autorickshaws have been exempted from the toll. ``This means only 0.25 per cent of motorists would be affected,'' he said.

Gadkari aid the MSRDC, which is executing the flyover project, required about Rs 1,000 crore for the Worli-Bandra sea link, the Mumbai-Pune expressway and the remaining flyovers and that the proposed toll would help towards this end. ``If you want good services,you will have to pay for them,'' he said.

According to sources, the state government hopes to recover Rs 100 crore annually from the flyovers to pay back the Rs 1550 crore it has spent on the 55 bridge and flyover project. Toll collection was slated to begin on May 1, but thanks to the delay, the state government could be losing Rs 30 lakh a day.

Inaugurating the flyover, Shiv Sena leader Raj Thackeray criticised environmentalists for ``opposing various infrastructural projects like the Pune expressway and the Worli-Bandra sea link. ``These people are of nuisance value only. Future generations will thank Gadkari for making travel easier in the city,'' he said, blaming environmentalists for holding up other developmental projects as they had been taken to court.

The 660-mt CST-Kurla flyover, which has two, three-lane carriageways, has been built at a cost of Rs 21.35 crore and was completed a month ahead of schedule.

MSRDC Managing Director R C Sinha, said the construction of the Sion flyover should becompleted by the end of June.