SHILLONG, Feb 13: In the wake of the recent altercation at the toll plaza which led to vandalisation of a tourist vehicle, the Meghalaya State Coordination Committee of Transport Operators, Owners and Driver Association has alleged that harassments are meted out to tourist drivers every day at the toll gate with the drivers being charged exorbitantly and unjustly by the employees there.
Videos of spats between commuters and the toll gate employees, which are going viral, surely indicate that all is not well at the NHAI toll gate.
“We are harassed on a daily basis as the rate for going out of Shillong is Rs 80 and of returning is 35 while they will not let us through until we pay Rs 160 out and Rs 80 for returning,” said Joint Secretary of Meghalaya State Coordination Committee of Transport Operators, Owners and Driver Association, Bhaskar Deb, on Saturday.
He maintained that they ran out of patience after the altercation between a tourist taxi driver and the toll gate employee turned violent with the employees reportedly vandalising the tourist vehicle and assaulting the driver by taking him to their office.
“We have filed an FIR at Byrnihat police station and we demand that the entire system should be streamlined, compensation be paid to the victim and the assaulters be punished as per the law,” he said, questioning as to what gives the employees at the toll plaza the right to assault an individual in broad daylight.
Inquired whether the issue has been taken up with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Deb informed that they had recently met the nodal officer of NHAI and provided all the proofs they had collected. However, till date they have not received a word from the nodal officer on the issue.
“We are really in despair and we don’t really know what to do with the daily harassment as this is the road that takes care of us and our family, and now it is getting really difficult. They are snatching away directly or indirectly our hard-earned money bit by bit,” a disgruntled Deb bewailed.
Meanwhile, top officials at NHAI, when contacted, have assured that such incidents will not recur in future.
