Protests at toll plazas has become a trend now: HC judge

The NHAI had submitted that toll collection has been stopped at 13 toll plazas in different parts of the state, and in some cases from mid- December

: A single judge bench of justice Vinod S Bhardwaj on Tuesday sent a plea from National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) against protests at toll plazas in Punjab to the chief justice for consideration for listing before a two-judge bench in view of widespread ramification of the issue highlighted by the NHAI.

Protests at toll plazas has become a trend now: HC judge (Getty Images)

Taking note of submissions from NHAI that it was incurring a daily loss of around ₹1.33 crore in Punjab following the prevention of toll fee collection “illegally” by the protestors, the bench orally observed that a trend has set in and we every now and then see protests and blockades of toll, roads and rail networks.

The NHAI had submitted that toll collection has been stopped at 13 toll plazas in different parts of the state, and in some cases from mid- December. At one such toll plaza at Kot Karor in Ferozepur, some protesters have in fact taken over the toll plaza and are illegally operating the same by collecting user fees for over two months.

That the situation is so grave that there is no maintenance of law and order and the staff and the property of the toll plaza have been vandalised and the toll plazas have been completely occupied by the protesters, the plea claimed.

The plea sought to make the state, the director-general of police and eight deputy commissioners as parties and sought directions to the respondents to take active steps to restore law and order and to facilitate and support it in the toll fee collection from the plazas by providing security and administrative assistance for smooth functioning “against the forceful stoppage of toll plazas and illegal operation of the same by certain protestors.”

It underlines that the protesters preventing toll fee collection had as such resulted in a significant revenue loss to the Central government exchequer. The NHAI had to incur a loss of around ₹1348.77 crore “in a similar situation earlier where the toll operations were closed by an agitating union for 440 days from October 1, 2020 to December 15, 2021, it said.

NHAI has either completed or work is going on 3,366 km network of national highways in the state.

It said deputy commissioners and other officers in the field have been approached time and again to get the toll plazas vacated. But no action has been taken.

It also cited a letter written to chief secretary VK Janjua on December 28 written by the secretary, ministry of road transport, Alka Upadhyaya in which immediate intervention of the state government was sought. However, there has been no change on the ground.