Farmers Unions decided for indefinite toll-free movement in Haryana | Fusion - WeRIndia

The agitations of farmers are increasing as the government does not agree to the revocation of the newly brought farm laws. In this context, farmers’ unions in Haryana announced the continuous toll-free movement of vehicles in the state until the government approves their demands.

Earlier, farmers’ unions said that the toll plazas would remain open for three days from December 25 to 27 to allow free movement of vehicles while passing through these plazas.

But, on Saturday, the farmer leaders decided not to allow toll companies to collect toll fee from commuters until their demands are met.

Haryana Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that they decided to ensure free movements at the toll-plazas. Hence, protesting farmers went to many toll plazas across the state and forced the employees to leave the booth. He added that committees would be formed with five to 15 members for agitations at every toll plaza.

Many woman and children also joined the protests Kitlana toll plaza in Dadri.

Bastara toll plaza in Karnal on NH- 44 is under the control of protesting farmers. It connects Delhi with many northern states. Nearly 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles cross the toll plaza every day. The forced toll-free movement of vehicles at this toll plaza caused a loss of around ₹1.20 to ₹1.30 crore per day.

Besides Bastara toll plaza, other toll plazas like Gullarpur toll plaza on Assandh-Karnal highway, Panipat toll plaza on NH-44, the Thana toll plaza in Pehowa of Kurukshetra on Hisar-Chandigarh highway, and Dahar toll plaza on Panipat-Rohtak highway are also under the control of agitating farmers.

However, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that forced toll-free movement of vehicles would not cause loss to the government or the toll companies, but the public would have to bear the loss ultimately. Hence, this agitation would not benefit anybody.

Image Credit: Rsrikanth05 / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BETL-Attibele-Toll-Plaza.jpg