People protest NHA’s move to recollect toll tax in Mansehra

MANSEHRA: A large number of people on Thursday staged a protest rally against the recollection of toll tax in Khatain Da Galla on Karakoram Highway near here.

“We cannot allow the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government to collect toll tax thrice from motorists and transporters and if the practice of collecting toll tax is not ended within next three days, we would storm toll plaza and remove it through people might,” Shabbir Hussain Shah, the convener of Youth Organisation told the protesters. The participants of the rally, which was taken out from Abbottabad Road, later gathered at Khatam-e-Nobuwat Chowk after marching through various roads. They were raising slogans against National Highway Authority and threatened to storm it if district administration didn’t ended collection at KKH.

“The district administration would be responsible for any untoward incident during the mass movement against the toll tax collection here, Shah threatened.

Another speaker, Dilawar Adil, said that Mansehra was the only district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where NHA was receiving toll tax at three points within a hardly three kilometre distance.

“The workers deployed at toll tax point have been disgracing motorists and dragged a man in front of his wife and other family members and we cannot tolerate such attitude of plaza staff at any cost,” he said.

Sardar Mohammad Safeer said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, which came into power through slogan of change, had levied heavy taxes which they would never allow to be happened. The NHA had suspended toll tax collection here at Khatain Da Galla some almost a decade ago when people stormed it.