Toll roads: Tandojam residents protest, ask for exemption from tax

We are a part of Hyderabad. Nowhere in the country are citizens forced to pay road tax for travelling within city'

HYDERABAD:

The residents of Tandojam, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas districts have become tired with protesting over a road project that would charge them for using a road within their own districts.

Even though the 67-kilometre Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas dual carriageway is yet to be inaugurated, this is the second time in a year that proposed locations for toll plaza along the freeway have come under attack.

Residents of rural Hyderabad, Tandojam, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas districts were all up in arms over the issue of paying taxes for using the carriageway. They took their grievance to the Sindh High Court in late 2010, which ruled in their favour in February 2011 and the toll plazas were promptly razed to the ground.

However, construction on a new toll plaza has already started, which will be completed in time for the freeway’s inauguration in May this year.

Tandojam, a town within 28 kilometres of the boundary of Hyderabad district, also houses the Sindh Agirulture University. The area’s residents, estimated to be over 150,000, frequently travel outside the city for jobs, education, health care and other purposes. Unlike in the past, when residents from four districts criticised the collection of tolls, this time residents of Tandojam are clamouring for an exemption from the road tax.

“We are a part of Hyderabad. Nowhere in the country are citizens forced to pay road tax for travelling within the city,” argued Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur, the petitioner in the SHC case last year. Talpur, a member of Pakistan Muslim League (likeminded), again led protesters on Monday and demanded the plaza’s relocation to Hyderabad’s boundary with the Tando Allahyar district. “When residents of Jamshoro do not pay taxes for using the Hyderabad Bypass, then why should we do it on this carriageway?” asked Talpur.

He was joined by representatives of other political parties,  all of them working under the banner of Shehri Action Committee.

“They can either waive the tax for us or shift the toll plaza’s location to Macchi Hotel, which lies on the border of Hyderabad and Tando Allahyar,” suggested PPP’s Saleem Shah.

A representative of traders in the area, Abdul Ramzan Rajput, said that the tax will be a burden on the small traders who bring edibles, home appliances and other items from Hyderabad.

The dual carriageway is a public-private project, and a South Korean firm, Deokjae Construction Company, will be responsible for its operation, along collecting tolls, for 30 years. No representative from the company could be contacted for its version on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2012.