By Surendra Solanki

Copyright thehindu

Pawan Sokeen, 35, a private school bus driver from Dichaon Kalan village in south-west Delhi, skips the newly inaugurated Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) to reach Mundka, even though it could save him over 30 minutes a day.

Instead, to avoid the Mundka–Bakkarwala toll plaza, which charges ₹395 one way and ₹790 round trip for his commercial vehicle, even on journeys under 7 kilometres, he takes a 4-km longer route through Neelwal and Hiran Kudna.

“I earn ₹40,000 monthly, and if I pay a toll of nearly ₹800 every day, what will I be left with?” he asked.

Like Mr. Sokeen, people living in over 20 villages, including Baprola, Neelwal, Hiran Kudna, Rani Khera, Mubarak Pur Dabas, Madanpur Khadar, Karala, and Mohammad Pur Majri, assembled near the Mundka toll plaza on Sunday, demanding exemption from the toll tax for those living within a 20-km radius.

The villagers, led by Surendra Solanki, head of Palam 360 khap panchayat, met Mundka MLA Gajender Drall, Matiala legislator Sandeep Sehrawat, and Najafgarh MLA Neelam Krishan Pahalwan, who were there at the site to pacify the crowd, and threatened to block the expressway if their demands were not met.

Since August 26, Mr. Solanki has been holding panchayats in several villages against the toll. The villagers argued that the toll tax has put an extra burden on regular commuters, daily wage earners, students, and small business owners.

The UER-II, a 54.2-km corridor, was inaugurated on August 17 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decongest city roads and improve connectivity across the National Capital Region (NCR).

According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) guidelines, the toll tax for a round trip is ₹350 for cars and vans, ₹565 for light goods vehicles and minibuses, ₹1,185 for buses and trucks, and up to ₹ 2,260 for multi-axle vehicles. According to the rules, owners of local non-commercial vehicles residing within 20 km of the toll plaza can obtain a monthly pass for ₹350. However, no such concession exists for commercial operators like Mr. Sokeen. An attendant at the Mundka–Bakkarwala toll plaza stated that the staff had been instructed not to collect any fees from residents of Mundka and Bakkarwala until September 20.

‘Unfair tax’

Manish Shehrawat, 38, from Tilangpur Kotla said, “My factory is in Mundka and godown in Tilangpur Kotla. To transport goods from one location to another within 6 km of range within the same city, should I be paying tax every day?”

A few villagers also pointed out that, even though the land for the project was acquired from them by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in 2006, they have not been exempted from the tax.

Amit Kharb, from Rani Khera, said, “The road is built on our land. Still, we cannot use it without paying tax. There is no other way but to protest.”

Heavy rush in villages

Due to the toll charges, many vehicles now take village roads instead, resulting in congestion and safety concerns. “Anyone coming from Bahadurgarh or Dwarka and bypassing the toll is using our village roads to reach Rohtak Road,” said Sunita Shehrawat, 44, a resident of Hiran Kudna village.

These [village roads] 15–20 feet wide roads, look like another highway. All kinds of trucks take these roads, causing traffic jams and leading to conflicts with the residents. At times, it becomes so inconvenient to travel on these roads. Once, it took us an hour to cover just 500 meters in our car,” said Ms. Shehrawat Some of the residents complained that the village roads have been poorly maintained. “The link road we can use to avoid the toll plaza is in a bad condition. It is dangerous and increases our travel time,” said Mohammed Aziz, 75, a Baprola resident, who travels frequently for property dealings across Delhi.

“For people residing in Jai Vihar and Shyam Vihar, who have to reach Mundka, have no other option but to take the expressway,” he added.