Eight dhaba operators booked for cutting crash barriers on Delhi-Dehradun corridor

The eateries allegedly created unauthorised access points and obstructed an NHAI team that had arrived to restore the barriers.

Eight dhaba operators have been booked here for allegedly cutting crash barriers installed on the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor to create private access routes and obstructing officials who were reinstalling them, officials said on Wednesday.

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The case was registered late Monday evening at Nangal police station based on a complaint by Akash Singh, site engineer with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)'s Project Implementation Unit (PIU), Roorkee.

Construction of the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor between the Saharanpur bypass and Ganeshpur has been completed. Beam crash barriers have been installed along the median and shoulders of the expressway for road safety.

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According to the NHAI complaint, some hotel and dhaba operators along the route allegedly cut the crash barriers at several points to create access for private use.

An NHAI team had reached the site to reinstall the barriers when the concerned hotel and dhaba operators allegedly arrived and obstructed the government work, affecting the installation of the barriers on the expressway, the complaint alleged.

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The complaint named the operators of close to a dozen eateries and restaurants.

Police said an investigation to examine the alleged cutting of the crash barriers, obstruction of government work and the role of the named persons has been launched.