Kokrajhar, May 16: Suspected Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti activists today attacked the Doholapara tollgate on National Highway 31C in Chirang district of lower Assam, beat up the staff manning the gate and set it on fire.
Seven persons engaged at the tollgate were injured in the attack. Twenty-five computer sets and 35 CCTVs were also damaged in the fire.
Sources said around 100 KMSS members and local residents attacked the tollgate, run by a Mumbai-based private company Inderdeep Construction Company, around noon. The construction company, which was awarded the tender, had started operating on January 18 this year. KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi had recently lashed out at the Centre for allotting companies to collect fees from the national highways in Assam by establishing tollgates and had urged people to demolish such gates.
Sources said heavy vehicles are charged Rs 150 to Rs 300, small vehicles Rs 60 while vehicles bearing Bongaigaon and Chirang registration numbers are charged Rs 30. A driver of a vehicle from Bhutan said, "An extra 10 per cent is charged on Bhutanese vehicles if we pay them in our currency." An employee at the tollgate said they pay Rs 5.80 lakh to the company daily.
The shocked employees also told the media that they were charging according to rates fixed by the NHAI and everything was above board.
Chirang deputy commissioner Roopak Mujumdar said he had ordered stopping of toll collection at Doholapara till the conflict was resolved. "I am awaiting instruction from higher authorities. Till then I have instructed to stop collection."
Sources in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said officials in Assam had decided to move Dispur to take up the toll issue with the Centre and prevent repeat of such incidents as it will not only affect the progress of the much-delayed East-West Corridor project - of which the Doholapara tollgate is part of - but also construction of other roads in the state.
"It is an extremely worrying situation, since it is the second such incident after Roha (in Nagaon) recently. Collecting toll is a part of the Centre's policy. If there are issues, the state should take those up with the Centre and get it resolved. Such protests will only delay ongoing projects and affect investors' confidence. We intend to complete the East-West Corridor, barring the bridge over Brahmaputra, and a 12km landslide-prone stretch in Dima Hasao, by March," a source said.
The NHAI office here has intimated its Delhi headquarters and its officials will visit the site tomorrow.
The 637km East-West Corridor in Assam runs from Sreerampur to Silchar and was launched in 2005-2006 at a cost of around Rs 6,000 crore which has since risen to Rs 6,800 crore.
A source in the NHAI said toll was collected in accordance with the policy of the ministry of road transport and highways. "Toll can be collected on a completed national highway stretch at every 60km, according to the ministry's policy. As such, toll was applicable on the four-lane stretch from Rakhaldubi in Bongaigaon district to Kaljar in Barpeta district," he said.
Two lanes of the road are bituminous while the other two are cemented. The cost of the cemented roads is two times more than the bituminous roads but the maintenance is very low and lifespan more.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, in a memorandum submitted to Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari earlier this month, had said the transportation cost of goods and commodities was high in the region compared to the rest of the country because of its geographic location and introduction of toll on national highways would further increase transportation cost which would adversely affect the economy and development of the northeastern states.
Additional reporting by Umanand Jaiswal in Guwahati
