Farmers Movement Archive

UP farmers go Punjab-Haryana way, make Yamuna Expressway toll plaza free for public at Mathura

AGRA: Intensifying their agitation against the farm laws, farmers from Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ambawata) virtually took over Mathura’s Maant toll plaza on Tuesday and forced the staff to allow vehicles to pass without paying toll tax for two hours. For the past one year, farmers inPunjab and Haryana have been picketing toll plazas on both state and national highways, and are not allowing concessionaires to collect toll tax from vehicles. Talking to TOI, BKU (Ambawata) district president Raj Kumar Tomar, said that this was just a “trailer” for two hours. If the government does not withdraw the new farm laws, they would make the plazas free of toll indefinitely from September 29. “People will have a free pass on Yamuna Expressway, like they have on toll roads in Punjab and Haryana, if the government does not take our demands seriously,” he said. When contacted, Maant toll plaza manager R B Singh said that they are trying to resolve the issue. “We have informed the higher authorities in this regard and will follow their directions,” he said, adding that this is “a law and order issue” and they “cannot do much”. According to reports, about 50 toll plazas in Punjab and Haryana have been rendered non-functional following farmers’ protests, resulting in an estimated daily loss of Rs 5 crore. For the past 8 months, toll plazas on Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway 44 have been converted into protest sites by farmers. In March this year, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that the National Highways Authority of India suffered a toll revenue loss of Rs 814.4 crore till March 16 on account of farmers' protests in three states. “Loss of revenue due to farmers’ protest has primarily occurred in the states of Punjab and Haryana as loss of Rs 487 and Rs 326 crore was recorded in the states respectively. However, Rs 1.4 crore loss was recorded at a few plazas in Rajasthan,” the minister had said.

The Times of India

2021-09-22

Agra