Gurgaon: Residents question delay Kherki toll shifting, term it poll gimmick
Residents said the announcement of Kherki toll shifting was simply a ploy to woo them before the MCG elections
City residents have termed the announcement of the Kherki Daula toll removal as a poll gimmick ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections on September 24.
Union minister of road, transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, during his visit to Gurgaon on August 14 had announced to expedite the toll removal plan. He even constituted a committee for the purpose. The committee was formed on August 27 under NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) project director AK Sharma to present a conclusive plan of shifting the toll by September 15.
“The committee was to prepare a feasibility report and place it before the NHAI by September 15. The media zealously covered the announcement, but the tall claims seem to have gone for a toss now. It was basically a ploy to woo Gurgaon voters. We fought a long battle to remove Sirhaul Toll, held several public protests and spent days and nights running from one court to the other. Our effort paid off at long last. We are now considering taking up the issue (surrounding Kherki toll removal) with the Centre and the state government,” said RS Rathee, president of Gurgaon Citizens’ Council (GCC), which moved a petition against the toll in Punjab and Haryana High Court.
After Sirhaul toll was removed in February 2014, the Kherki Daula toll was put under a different concessionaire and toll fee was doubled.
“We hoped the BJP government would do justice to Gurgaon residents, industrialists and other commuters by shifting the Kherki Daula Toll. But it seems the toll will not be removed. On every visit to Manesar from Sector 40, I have to pay toll and face snarls. There should be no toll in areas within the MCG’s (Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s) jurisdiction,” Rajkumar Yadav, president, residents’ welfare association (RWA), Sector 40, said.
Toll is the biggest bottleneck point of the city worrying commuters and local residents. Industry owners of Manesar have been hit worst by issues arising out of Kherki toll.
Read I Gurgaon: Kherki Daula toll to be shifted 8 km towards Manesar from present location
“We are sorry to say that the government has done exactly the opposite of what it promised with regard to the Kherki Daula toll. We have been waiting for the toll shifting since January. However, nine months passed and there is still no concrete assurance from either the Centre or the state,” Manmohan Gaind, president, Manesar Industrial Welfare Association, said.
“Nothing concrete has come out yet in this regard,” said the NHAI project director.
