Residents protest against blockade on Dwarka expressway

Residents of developing sectors along the Dwarka Expressway on Sunday held a protest against the blockade set up on the Northern Peripheral Road (NPR) and the delay in shifting the Kherki Daula toll plaza. The protesters also paid tribute to the CRPF personnel who were killed in an attack in Pulwama.

Over 150 protesters, carrying banners and placards, and wearing black ribbons and arm-bands, gathered on the NPR around 4pm.

The residents, including children and senior citizens, first paid tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack. They then marched towards the Kherki Daula toll plaza, up to the junction where the blockade has been set up on the NPR by the concessionaire.

The protesters, waving their banners, raised slogans against the highway authorities for closing the road despite directions to remove the wall being given by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Pravin Malik, the vice-president of United Association of New Gurugram, which had called the protest, said that the administration should give immediate relief to residents of new sectors by connecting the NPR and Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. “We are also looking at legal options to approach the court for seeking relief (by shifting the toll plaza). However, the authorities need to take early action,” he said.

It may be recalled that NPR was blocked since 2016 by the highway concessionaire, who had built a 300-metre wall to stop the traffic.

However, the wall was removed by last month by the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) after repeated complaints by the residents to the chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who, after a spot check on January 23, directed that the wall be removed in public interest.

The decision was opposed by the highway concessionaire, MCEPL, who approached the Delhi high court and managed to get interim relief till February 19 and got the road closed. Since then, the residents of developing sectors have been carrying out protests, citing the move as unfair and unjust.

First Published: Feb 18, 2019 14:06 IST