Victory after 283 days: Govt starts shifting Jagjit Pura toll plaza after long-drawn protest by farmers

Their struggle of 283 days against toll collection in the area had borne fruits.

As per details, the toll prices at the plaza was Rs 110 for one-way, and Rs 165 for a two-way travel on a car/jeep, and buses paid Rs 350 for a journey, before the farmers gathered in numbers to stage their protest. Their main contention against the toll plaza was that locals of the area were being charged toll despite not using the highway. “The dharna was being organised by BKU-Dakaunda. We did not relent to the pressure of NHAI or even the local administration. OUr efforts finally have borne results. It is surprising that earlier when we used to protest against the Congress government in the state, the leaders of AAP used to come and support us. But ever since the AAP came to power, none of their leaders have shown up even for a day,” said Buta Singh Burjgill, president of BKU-Dakaunda.

“A temporary hut had been made for some of the protesters to sleep at night. The rest of us used to sleep under the shed of the toll plaza. The protesters here were mostly farmers and we are used to weathering adversities. The protests continued day-night. We used to cook and serve langar, with sometimes even commuters joining us,”said Kulwant Singh Bhadaur, who was an active participant in the protest.

Burjgill added that there was a toll plaza 30 km before this location on Badbar road and another near Taran Taran about 60 km from Pakho Kenchian. “So, what was the need of this additional plaza. The highway leads to Moga – Jalandhar. Hence if this toll plaza was shifted by just a few kilometres, locals from this area would have been able to travel on this route tax free. Our fight was to get this stretch of road free from this unwanted tax and we managed to persist,” said Burjgill.

“The average crowd of protesters here on weekdays used to range between 200-300. On weekends, especially Sundays, these numbers shot up. Many farmers used to regularly pedal their way here daily, while some others stayed here for days. The farmers used the houses of nearby villagers for bathing and cleaning up,” said Amandeep Singh Gaggi , a member of BKU-Dakaunda.

Manjit Singh Dhaner, the president of a splinter group of BKU-Dakaunda said that the construction of the toll plaza started in early 2019, when the AAP was in the opposition. “At that time, the then Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann, along with AAP MLAs Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Kulwant Singh Pandori and Peermal Khalsa, had joined our dharna and got the work stalled. But later, the administration gave its nod to restart construction. Then the farmer agitation against the three hence repealed agricultural laws started in Punjab from October 1,2020 onwards. The dharna from this toll plaza was lifted on December 15,2021. The toll plaza was made operational within the next few days. The toll collection went on for a few months,” Dhaner said.

Dhaner added that in early 2022, the toll plaza guys agreed not to charge money from residents of 28 nearby villages. “The problem remained for Jaito and other local residents. Our question to authorities was why should there be so many toll plazas at regular intervals? We relaunched our dharna on August 26, with AAP MLAs and Bhagwant Mann now running the government,” he added . “The protests here had started to resemble our struggles at Delhi’s borders. We cooked three meals a day here. Temporary huts had come up. We saw seasons pass, we braved inclement weather but didn’t give up,” said Balbir Kaur, a womens’ wing leader of BKU-Dakaunda.

Burjgill added ,”I firmly believe that we should take a stand for public issues more frequently. It took us 283 days to get a small demand fulfilled here.”