The Meghalaya Commercial Truck Owners and Drivers Association (MCTODA) has alleged that its members face rampant extortion at the hands of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and Himas through tollgates that, it says, operate in violation of a state government order.
Addressing a press conference today, the MCTODA said that such tollgates have been erected throughout the Khasi Hills and go against the government’s February 25 directive to close all such gates on national highways, state highways and major district roads.
President of the MCTODA, Mosklandar Marngar, said that about 32 tollgates are still operating illegally and looting trucks every day, with some having to pay up to Rs 20,000 per day.
“The truck drivers, acquainted with this government order, who refuse to pay at the tollgates are threatened with lethal weapons while at some the looters are equipped with sophisticated weapons like pistols. Some of the drivers have been beaten and injured or their vehicles damaged,” Marngar alleged.
The police are apparently taking part in this “illegal” levy. Marngar claimed that one such tollgate at Lad Mawreng saw truckers refuse to pay and the next day the gate was manned by police personnel who charged those that passed through double the usual rate.
Tollgate operators often drop the names of politicians when truckers refuse to pay and in some places there are more than one – with KHADC and Hima tollgates near to each other.
Stating that the association has been fighting this exploitation for years until the state government passed its order in February, Marngar lamented that the government’s orders are simply on paper and not implemented on the ground.
