Traffic jams on NH, resentment in air as Sarore toll plaza starts functioning

JAMMU: Long queues of vehicles causing huge traffic jams, and vocal protests from local residents as well as political parties marked the inauguration of the toll tax collection service at Thandikhui toll plaza, situated near Sarore on Jammu-Pathankot national highway in Samba.
The National High Authority of India (NHAI) on Friday officially resumed the toll collection service, taking people by surprise even as unprepared to handle such long number of vehicle traversing the highway, the officials of the toll plaza had a hard time managing the traffic flow.
“Today we started toll collection at Thandikhui toll plaza in sarore area of district Samba. Traffic flow will smoothen in few days as today is the first day and commuters were unaware of the fact, which caused traffic jam,” General Manager, NHAI, Jammu region, Hem Raj, told The News Now.
The commuters passing through the toll plaza in a car or other Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) have to pay Rs 65 for one-way journey and Rs 100 for return journey while in the case of mini bus or Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV), Rs 110 will be charged one-way journey and Rs 160 for return journey.
“For buses and trucks the toll will be Rs 225 for one side journey and Rs 340 for return journey,” Raj informed this scribe.
Soon after the Toll Plaza was formally inaugurated by Ajay Kumar Rajak, Project Director, NHAI, the roads leading to it witnessed long queues of vehicles, running upto three kilometers in length, the eye-witnesses informed.
This toll plaza along with another toll plaza at Rajbagh in district Kathua, was supposed to be made operational in 2012 when the four-laning of the Jammu-Pathankot highway was completed.
Ironically, locals in the Sarore area, led by some political leaders, on May 6, 2014, had damaged the toll plaza at Sarore and warned of serious consequences if the authorities set up any toll collection centre there.
While work on resuming this plaza had started around 20 days ago, there was no official word on when it would start working, thus taking people by surprise on Friday, even as locals resented the move.
Scores of local resident along with activists belonging to different political parties including Congress and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers (JKNPP), gathered around the toll plaza and shouted slogans against the authority as well as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
They alleged that the BJP-led government is looting people of Jammu region while allowing concession to the people of Kashmir region.
“If we raise the issue, we are being termed as anti-nationals. This is total discrimination with the people of Jammu region. But still we will continue our agitation and raise this issue of discrimination,” JKNPP chairman Harshdev Singh told The News Now.
“The BJP-led government has been looting and befooling people of Jammu and Kashmir. Our workers also staged protest but the administration has turned blind eye on the issue,” Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said.
Repeated calls to former MLA and BJP leader, Chander Parkash Ganga, who once opposed the plaza went unanswered.
Locals sought immediate rollback of toll tax being levied on the newly installed Jammu- Sarore Toll Plaza, terming the move will put the road users under pressure.
“Such huge taxation in the form of multiple toll plazas was simply unaffordable for the common masses and particularly those who had to commute on regular basis between Jammu, Samba and Lakhanpur,”
they said.
Similar to this plaza, another toll plaza is expected to come up at Rajbagh in district Kathu. That was also supposed to be made operational in 2012 but following the stiff restrictions form local and political parties, NHAI could not start toll Plaza at Rajbagh.
Moreover, the highway authority has proposed merger of Raj Bagh toll plaza with Lakhanpur- commercial toll plaza of state government.
“We are working on the merger of Raj bagh toll plaza with Lakhanpur- commercial toll plaza of state government and once the modalities are finalized, the toll plaza will be made functional,” Hem Raj added.
Pertinently, NHAI has realized Rs 244.47 crore in last five years from the two functional toll plazas including Bann toll plaza and Chenani-Nashri toll plaza across Jammu regions.

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