Motorists detained after Thane toll naka protest
THANE: Motorists in Thane, led by the Thane Citizens Forum, staged a silent protest near Anandnagar toll booth on Tuesday evening. The protestors held placards demanding that the toll operators follow the yellow line rule announced by the state.
A yellow line is enforced by toll authorities at a certain distance from the toll post. The state had announced that if vehicles cross the yellow line during traffic snarls, they could leave without paying the toll.
Kasber Augustine, the founder of Thane Citizens Forum, who was also detained, said, “I went to Anandnagar toll plaza in the morning and saw a long queue of vehicles. The traffic was well beyond the yellow line. I got down from my vehicles and asked the toll operators to follow the yellow line rule. Though they refused to do so, I did not give up.”
Augustine said by evening, the toll operators gave in to the demands of the motorists.
“Hundreds of vehicles were allowed to go without paying toll, until the traffic was eased,” he added.
The Navghar police claimed the motorists did not take prior permission from them for the protest and detained those protesting. Pushkaraj Suryavanshi, senior police inspector of Navghar police station said, “The protesters were blocking traffic. We do not want any law and order problem. Thus we detained the
protesters.”
Anil Joshi, 50, a Hiranandani Estate resident, said motorists have to pay the toll despite waiting in traffic for more than 30 minutes. “Whenever we ask the toll operators to follow the yellow line rule, they ask us to show them the directive where this rule is mentioned. They never
budge and we are forced to pay the toll.”
Jayant Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director of MEP Infra, which manages the toll, said, “We are waiting for some recommendations from the expert committee on how the yellow line rule can be implemented to ease congestion.”