Rajkot: The patience of Saurashtra's motorists reached its breaking point on Monday as the Highway Rights Committee (HRC) executed a massive blockade of the Rajkot-Gondal highway. The bold move, which saw approximately 15 HRC members detained by Aaji Dam police, was a direct response to the abysmal conditions and continued toll collection on the Rajkot-Jetpur six-lane highway, a project that has been under construction for two agonizing years.
"Monday's protest with highway jams is the anger of millions of motorists, which we have poured out, because now the limit of patience has been reached," declared an HRC member, articulating the frustration shared by countless commuters. For days, the stretch between Rajkot and Gondal has been a scene of relentless, kilometer-long traffic jams, transforming daily commutes into arduous journeys.
The HRC's core demand is unequivocal: an immediate cessation of toll collection on the Rajkot-Jetpur highway until the construction work is completed and the road is fully operational. Despite repeated representations and protests, including a recent encirclement of the Rajkot District Collector's Office, the administration and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) have failed to take concrete measures to expedite the project or alleviate the public's suffering. "There will be no talks or meetings now, but we want immediate solution to the issue," a committee member asserted, highlighting their exasperation with unfulfilled promises.
The public outcry has resonated with political figures. Prominent Rajkot City Congress leaders, including MLA Jignesh Mevani, Lalji Desai, and Pal Ambalia, joined the protestors, lending their support to the growing movement.
Adding fuel to the fire, Saurashtra Congress spokesperson Rohitsinh Rajput revealed a telling anecdote. "Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was on a tour of Gujarat, also made a sarcastic remark at a public event after experiencing the traffic and dilapidated roads on this highway, which can be called a shame for the leaders of Rajkot and the NHAI," Rajput stated, highlighting the national embarrassment caused by the highway's condition.
He questioned why Union Minister Mansukhbhai Mandaviya and other local MPs and MLAs, who regularly use the highway, have remained silent on the issue. "If leaders from outside the state are unhappy with the highway infrastructure, then the local elected representatives here must take some advice from the national leaders," Rajput challenged, suggesting a private conversation with Chouhan about the appropriateness of the ongoing toll collection.
Rajput further lambasted the authorities, dismissing the 25% toll fee waiver as a "lollipop" and an unacceptable solution. He drew a parallel with the Jamnagar-Amritsar Bharatmala Highway, where toll collection was suspended due to poor road conditions, demanding the same for the Rajkot-Jetpur stretch. "Although there is no highway in Gujarat in a bad condition like the Rajkot-Jetpur Highway, the toll collection from motorists of the four-lane highway is completely unfair and illegal, so we demand that both the toll plazas be closed until the highway work is completed," he stressed.
The HRC also cited numerous Supreme Court and High Court judgments that have halted toll collection due to dilapidated highway conditions. According to NHAI and Union Ministry of Road Transport guidelines, toll tax collection on a highway in such a state is impermissible. "At present, the motorists who are being collected toll tax at two places are supposed to drive on a four-lane highway road, so why are people being charged tax if there is no four-lane anywhere on the entire highway?" Rajput questioned, concluding that the Highway Authority has "played a cruel joke with the people of Saurashtra by crores."
The protestors' demands extend beyond just stopping toll collection. They are calling for 100% work completion before tolls resume, improvement of alternative roads, establishment of traffic police points and NHAI monitoring teams in congested areas, urgent action against corrupt toll operators, proper diversion routes, lighting, signage, and security facilities in work zones as per IRC-SP 55 guidelines, and penalties and legal action against responsible NHAI officials, contractors, and agencies for the negligence. The ball is now firmly in the administration's court, with the public's patience having run out.
