National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) should have avoided the unnecessary confrontation with the people by taking the decision of toll collection at the Toll Plaza located on Jammu Ring Road in Sohanjana area with extraordinary haste. The people sitting at helm should understand the implications of such decisions on the people especially the ones belonging to poor strata of the society.
Reportedly, within 24 hours of the start of tax collection at the aforesaid spot, an intensive resistance by the local commuters forced National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to suspend collection of toll till the time the full stretch of this road will be completed. As the sudden commencement of toll plaza witnessed many scuffles and distasteful scenes at the plaza site, it was the duty of the people helming the affairs of these plazas to act prudently in such cases to avoid any unnecessary trifle having potential to escalate things and create law and order situation.
The NHAI authorities required to come clear on the issue because is it justified to collect the toll, when the facilities on this highway are still under construction and also the formalities regarding exemption of cess to locals are also pending. It is good that the local authorities at Jammu have suspended the toll collection until the road becomes fully functional but the people at the higher level should have avoided this mayhem by acting wisely and by not taking the aforesaid decision in an extraordinary haste.
They must understand that any decision taken without proper consideration of all aspects could boomerang as the case in discussion has because even the local legislator has to intervene to make the things right again.
It is pertinent to mention that 57- kilometre long Ring Road from Raya Morh is yet to be completed with its crucial stretches like Bhalwal to Nagrota Jagti still under construction.
All said and done, it is imperative to handle such situations in a very delicate manner because any wrong step can flare up the situation, which is not in the interest of any of the parties involved. It is good that the NHAI authorities have revisited their decision and decided to wait until the road work is completed in entirety because this was the recommended initiative.
The authorities at the higher level should also come up in black and white about the established rules in such matters because the government cannot leave the matter into the hands of stakeholders as in region like J&K, which is already confronting with many security challenges, such ambiguous situations can prove detrimental for the regional peace and stability.
