Making border toll barrier-free: Delhi mayor responds to AAP protest

AAP’s protest was linked to a Supreme Court directive asked the MCD to consider a suspension of tolls to reduce congestion and the vehicular emissions it creates.

Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh on Monday said that Delhi’s toll collection system is being upgraded with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to ensure there are no queues of vehicles, hours after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held protest demanding suspension of toll collection during the pollution season.

Making border toll barrier-free: Delhi mayor responds to AAP protest

AAP’s protest was linked to a Supreme Court directive asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to consider a suspension of tolls to reduce congestion and the vehicular emissions it creates.

At the protest, led by MCD leader of opposition Ankush Narang at the Ghazipur toll plaza, AAP workers raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government.

Narang claimed that the toll plazas have become pollution hotspots and the people of Delhi are suffering the consequences. “Supreme Court has issued a directive prohibiting vehicles from being stopped at toll plazas to collect toll taxes, but the BJP is unwilling to follow this guideline. Just for a few bucks, they have left children and the elderly to die in this pollution,” he added at the protest.

In response, Singh said,AAP’s claims were “incorrect and misleading” regarding the directions of the Supreme Court related to toll plazas. “During the period when the Aam Aadmi Party was in power, no concrete or effective action was taken against pollution, and now, after being out of power, the party is playing politics on this serious issue, which is extremely reprehensible.”

Mayor argued that, in its order, the Supreme Court had asked MCD “to consider, on a priority basis, as to why the nine toll plazas in question should not be temporarily suspended till the air quality conditions improve in the NCR territory.”

It had not issued any direct order to close the toll plazas, said Singh, adding, “At the same time, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has duly submitted an affidavit before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, providing details of all the steps being taken in this regard.”

He added that MCD is working towards barrier-free toll collection through a Multi-Lane Free Flow system. “The process of issuing tenders for this is underway, in which ANPR and RFID technology will be used. With the implementation of this modern technology, there will be no queues of vehicles at toll plazas, which will reduce both traffic congestion and pollution,” he added.

Delhi has 156 toll collection plazas where the corporation levies the toll charges and Environment Compensation Charge from commercial vehicles. 13 major toll plazas are equipped with RFID based tolling systems while rest are covered with hand held devices toread RFID chips.

Singh said that the Aam Aadmi Party’s sole agenda now is to “spread confusion” and “indulge in political rhetoric”.

“If the party were genuinely concerned about the citizens of Delhi and their health, it would have taken concrete and result-oriented action while in power, instead of now attempting to evade its responsibilities through misleading statements,” she said.

Narang demanded that toll tax plazas be closed with immediate effect and that such collections should cease. He said that today, the BJP has a four-engine government in Delhi. “Therefore, they will have no shortage of funds. This revenue can be collected from the Delhi government or the central government, but the lives of the people are more important,” he added.