Barricade to bypass toll plaza removed at Paliyekkara

THRISSUR: The controversial iron barricade erected on Thaloor-Paliyekkara road meant to prevent four wheelers and heavy vehicles from entering the Mannuthy-Angamaly NH toll way was broken by unknown persons on the midnight of Saturday. Three iron pillars of the barricade were removed and the 1.5 meter wide opening, allowing autorickshaws and two-wheelers to enter the toll road, has now become a 10 metrewide gap allowing free movement of vehicles from the road to the toll way. The clearing of the blockade close to the Paliyekkara Toll Plaza has allowed a detour for the vehicles meant to pass through the toll gate by bypassing it without paying the hefty toll.

The toll company Guruvayoor Infrastructure Private Ltd has filed a complaint with Puthukkad police and a case has been registered. Activist Joy Kaitharam who had filed a complaint with the District Collector to open the barricade said that he was armed with a HC judgement of July 2014 ordering its removal.  He said that on September 29, he received an order from the district collector for dismantling the blockade and the same order had been sent to the NHAI office in Palakkad. "But the authority did not take any immediate action on the order. The copy of the order was sent to the toll company’s office in Chalakkudy," he added.

He said that the local people might have removed the barricade as the authorities delayed action on such an order. However, the chief operations manager of the toll company T V Suraj told DC that the Collector had not issued any such order and the company was in possession of an order from HC to permanently ban entry of vehicles from the concerned road to NH. “We have given a police complaint and to the concerned authorities and the law will take its course,” he added. Puthukkad CI SP Sudheeran said that he had not yet come across any court order or Collector’s order to clear the blockade.“If anyone has such order, they can hand it over to the police,” he said. The toll collection at the plaza that began in 2012 is set to end in 2028 as per the agreement.