The inhabitants of the Raj Nagar Extension are all geared up to hit the roads to express their resentment.
The recent announcement of the Ghaziabad Development Authority regarding the setting up of a toll plaza on the elevated road has put residents of the Raj Nagar Extension in distress. The inhabitants of the area are all geared up to hit the roads to express their resentment.
Residents of Raj Nagar Extension are highly unsatiated with the decision and the reason shared by GDA officials behind the setting up of the toll plaza.
To put forth the concern of the residents, the Federation of Apartments Owners Association met GDA on Thursday and demanded the concerned officials to take back the decision else the residents would have no option but to stage a mass protest to raise their concern and to make sure the autocratic decision of GDA is taken back with immediate effect.
"We apprised them about the sentiments of the residents. The decision to set up the toll plaza on the elevated road defeats the purpose of its construction completely. It's constructed to declutter the traffic jam that the residents face during peak hours. The toll plaza would discourage the residents to take the route and this is going to adversely impact the traffic," said Alok Kumar, President FedAOA
A few days ago, in a board meeting, the authority took this decision to extend the road till DND flyover and set up a toll on the extended route. The officials also considered over the existing elevated road. Chief Engineer of GDA, VN Singh stated this as per various media reports.
As per the sources, the main reason behind the GDA's decision of putting up a toll plaza is to recover over 1000 crores spent on the development of the road which developers of Raj Nagar Extension area haven't paid to the GDA.
Reacting on this, Kumar said that authority can't put the onus of their failure on the residents. "It's unjustified to penalise residents for their incapability to extract the cess from the developers," he said.
"Since the road would also be opened to heavy vehicles, the road of Raj Nagar Extension would become a route for the heavy vehicles coming and going to Meerut and beyond. It will adversely affect the traffic as well as to the current traffic chaos during the peak hours," said Anupam Singh, a resident of Gaur Cascades, Raj Nagar Extension.
Residents also fear whether the elevated road would be able to bear the weight of the heavy vehicles on it once the toll is operational. "The entire road stretch is constructed with the support of single pillars keeping a load of light vehicles in consideration during its construction. I am really sceptical whether it would be able to sustain the extra load suddenly put on it," said Venkatesh Kumar, a resident of Ajnara Integrity, a high-rise in Raj Nagar Extension.