Farmers’ body lifts blockade from DND Flyway after two days

Thousands of commuters enjoyed a free ride on the <g data-gr-id="24">Delhi Noida</g> Direct (DND) Flyway as members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) threw open the toll gates for the second consecutive day on Friday, demanding toll-free passage. 

The protesters called off their strike after SP (City) Dinesh Yadav and ADM Chandrashekar assured the protesting them of arranging a meeting with UP Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan on Wednesday.

Chandrashekar said: “The meeting with UP Chief Secretary, NTBCL, operator of DND Flyway and BKU members will be held on July 15.” 

<g data-gr-id="23">Demanding</g> free passage at the DND toll gate, BKU’s national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said: “Following intervention by the District Administration, it has been decided to discontinue the protest. If the authorities fail to fulfil their promises, we will resume our protest next week.”

“The project, which was built by the Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL) opened the Expressway in 2001 and the Mayur Vihar link in 2008. Since then, the maintenance work is being carried out by illegal means. They are looting people by fixing unreasonable toll charges for commuters. There is no audit done on the revenue generated by the company from the toll collection,” said Tikait.

On Thursday, the protesters came in buses and trucks and blocked the carriageway for over an hour. They forced the booth operators to allow free passage to all vehicles. They, later, brought utensils to set up an open-air kitchen on the highway to prepare food for co-protesters, indicating that they were ready for a long <g data-gr-id="26">fight,</g> if their demands were not met.