Gurugram residents hold protest march for removal of toll plaza

A large number of people, including women and children, on Saturday held a protest demanding removal of the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway and the proposed toll plaza on the Dwarka Expressway.

Residents from various sectors including 82, 83, 84 gathered on the under-construction Dwarka Expressway in Kherki Daula and marched towards Kherki Daula toll plaza holding banners and posters demanding action by the state government.

Protesters also made a human chain at Kherki Daula toll.

"We demand a time-frame removal of the toll plaza. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar have promised to remove toll barriers but nothing happened in the past three years. We now want action not assurances," Pradeep Rahi, General Secretary Dwarka Expressway Welfare Association (DXP), told IANS.

He said that National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) took the Dwarka expressway projects in its hand in 2016 but nothing on the ground has been done.

According to Association's President Yashish Yadav, residents have been facing problems due to the toll plaza, and school going children get stranded everyday in the traffic jams at the toll.

The Haryana Chief Minister Khattar earlier this month had said that the toll will be shifted to Sehrawan (beyond Manesar, towards Jaipur) and 65 acre land for the purpose has been handed over to NHAI, but Sehrawan Gram Panchayat claimed that the land was still in the village's possession.

As per sources, the state government might remove the Kherki Daula toll plaza altogether, instead of shifting it to Sehrawan.

The talks for removal of the toll plaza are currently in early stages and the finances are being worked out in terms of the total liability.

The removal of the toll plaza would cost nearly Rs 1,200 crore, of which the government has to arrange for Rs 800 crore, sources added.

The shifting of the toll plaza was officially announced in 2017 by Union Minister Gadkari.

However, the decision invited criticism from environmentalists who said that a toll plaza at Sehrawan would adversely impact the wildlife in the region.

A group of environmentalists had objected to a toll plaza at Sehrawan, saying a rise in the number of vehicles using the highway would adversely affect the wildlife in the Aravali zone.

--IANS

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