Mob forces toll plaza open

Extracts written assurance that service roads will be rebuilt

Angry villagers, fed up with the bad condition of service lanes on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, on Wednesday forced open a toll plaza for over an hour, officials said.

Residents of Narsingpur, Hasanpur, Khandsa and Hans enclave forced open all 18 lanes of the Kherki Daula toll plaza, one of the three toll-collection points on the expressway, from 9.50 am to 11.05 am.

The Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd (DGSCL) operates the 27.7-km expressway, with three toll plazas at Kherki Daula, Sirhol border and one en-route to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

Residents opened the gates, giving vehicles a free run without paying toll tax. Villagers also forced the toll manager and police to call senior officials of DGSCL to the spot.

DGSCL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Manoj Aggarwal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Satendra Duhan and Assistant Commissioners of Police Bir Singh and Vishnu Dayal reached the spot, and the toll gates were brought back to functioning only after the CEO assured in writing that the service roads would be rebuilt within a month.

The protesters said service lanes in some of the affected villages have been in a poor condition for more than a year. There are almost knee-deep craters which create difficulties during rains.

Failed attempts

The protesters said repeated requests to the toll operator for repair failed to yield any result.

The villagers had also protested on February 15 on the same issue. At that time, too, villagers had forced open toll gates for around half an hour.