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45 days on, business as usual at Ladhowal toll plaza
Protest at Ladhowal toll plaza lifted after 45 days, farmer leaders detained. Plaza reopens amid heavy police presence, causing inconvenience to commuters.
Protest lifted at Ladhowal toll plaza amid heavy police presence, farmer leaders detained.
The Ladhowal toll plaza on the Ludhiana-Jalandhar national highway (NH-44) re-opened on Wednesday morning after being closed for 45 days amid the protest by farmer unions. On Tuesday, union leaders were detained while on their way to the barrier to halt the reopening. BKMU president Dilbagh Singh was among the detainees.
The protest was lifted amid heavy police presence and a beeline of vehicles was seen as the plaza started charging again.
The Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union (BKMU) had been on a sit-in at the plaza since June 16 and forced the authorities to let the vehicles pass without paying. They were protesting what they said were the unwarranted hikes in the plaza’s rates.
According to barrier’s manager Deepinder, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) faced losses of over ₹1 crore every day, with the total losses amounting to nearly ₹45 crore.
On Tuesday, the NHAI and district administration held a meeting regarding the plan to reopen the plaza.
On July 1, the protesters had locked the cabins used by the toll plaza staff.
NHAI had moved the high court (HC) over the closure of four toll plazas across Punjab, including Ladhowal. The NHAI submitted in the court that they had suffered cumulative losses of ₹113 crore due to the closures.
The district administration held multiple meetings with BKMU members and NHAI representatives but BKMU maintained that the toll rates were unjustified and demanded reduction.
Amid the negotiations, the HC ordered the reopening of the toll plaza and around 6.30 am on Wednesday, heavy police force was deployed to ensure the toll plaza became operational.
Later in the day, deputy commissioner of police Jaskiranjit Singh Teja met with BKMU leaders at the police lines and the detainees were released.
After his release, Dilbagh Singh said they would continue their struggle against the high toll rates, which he said are a burden on the common man.
However, he clarified that they would not stage protests at the toll plaza for now but plan to file a fresh petition and seek meetings with chief minister Bhagwant Mann and Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari.
Commuters allege mismanagement
The commuters were inconvinienced as they had to face long queues, with some claiming they waited for over half an hour to cross the barrier.
The commuters alleged mismanagement on part of the toll staff and said the lack of prior public information about the barrier’s opening threw a wedge in their travel plans.
