Intensifying their protest against the Centre’s farm laws, farmers took over some toll plazas in Haryana on Saturday and did not allow authorities to collect fees from commuters.
All four toll plazas in Hisar district—located on the Delhi road, Rajgarh road, Sirsa road and Chandigarh road—were taken over by protesting farmers, who allowed vehicles to pass through without paying toll.
Meanwhile in Karnal, farmers closed the Bastara toll plaza on NH-44 and Peont toll plaza on Karnal-Jind National Highway-709A. Farmers had closed the Bastara toll at midnight to give free passage to commuters. The Peont toll plaza was made free in the morning.
Bastara toll authorities again started the collection of toll in the morning, which the farmers got suspended.
At Jhajjar, the toll plaza on the Rohtak-Delhi highway, near Rohad village, continues to charge tax from commuters despite the call of protesting farmers for making all toll tax booths free in the state.
More than 100 farmers led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leaders Malkit Singh and Manish Chaudhry gathered at a toll plaza on the Ambala-Hisar highway, around 15 kilometres from Ambala city.
In Punjab, toll charges are not being collected from commuters as farmers have been staging sit-ins at toll plazas since October 1. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is suffering a loss of Rs 3 crore per day on account of farmers’ protest at toll plazas in the state.
