Demand for toll-free DND flyway gains momentum, BJP workers stage protest

Mangalore Today News Network

Noida, April 09, 2015:  The clamour for making the Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyway toll-free turned louder on Wednesday, as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers protested at the link road demanding that it be made toll free.

Hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (​BJP) workers today staged protest at the DND flyway and blocked traffic for an hour, causing jams on flyway as well as connecting roads.

Led by BJP leaders Vimla Batham and Nawab Singh Nagar, around 500 BJP workers reached the flyway, which connects Delhi and Noida, around 11 am demanding that the toll be scrapped as its tenure was over.

They pointed out that the Gurgaon expressway toll, which started after the DND toll, had been discontinued, but the Noida toll continues.

A DND official told IANS that they have been "incurring heavy losses and have not been able to recover the cost", and hence, with due permission from the authorities, continue to levy the tax.

Meanwhile, the DND has been made toll free till 5 pm today.

According to figures, Rs 428 crores were spent in the construction of the DND flyover, out of which Rs 20 crores were contributed by the Noida authority. As per the DND records, an estimated Rs 698 crores have been recovered so far.

According to The Federation of Noida Residents` Welfare Associations (FONRWA), toll tax collection to the tune of Rs 1400 crores has been made so far.

BJP MP from Gautam Buddh Nagar Mahesh Sharma had last year raised the issue of making the DND flyover toll free in Lok Sabha.

 

Courtesy: Zeenews