Sunday evening on the Kochi-Salem National Highway in Kerala's Thrissur district turned into the kind of scene commuters there have come to dread on weekends. Vehicles heading toward the Paliyekkara toll plaza had been crawling for nearly two kilometres, and hours of near-standstill traffic had left travellers thoroughly exhausted. It was right then that Union Minister Suresh Gopi's convoy happened to be passing through the same stretch.
The minister steps out and orders every gate opened
Under standard VIP security protocol, the pilot vehicle leading the convoy cut through the congestion and got Suresh Gopi's car all the way up to the toll booth. Normally a convoy in that position would simply drive straight through, but this time the minister had his car stopped right there. He stepped out, walked up to the toll booth and told the staff on duty, in no uncertain terms, to open every gate on every lane immediately. His instruction left no room for confusion, vehicles were to be waved through without collecting a single rupee in toll.
Barriers go up, and the jam disappears within minutes
Seeing how firm the minister was, the security personnel accompanying him stepped in without hesitation and helped lift the toll barriers themselves. The change was almost instant, vehicles that had been stuck for hours suddenly began moving freely, and a jam that had gripped the highway for hours cleared completely within just a few minutes. Suresh Gopi then resumed his journey toward Ernakulam, his onward destination. Notably, the Paliyekkara toll plaza itself falls within his own parliamentary constituency, and lengthy jams there on holidays and weekends are far from a rare occurrence, having happened repeatedly before. The minister made clear that he took this step purely out of a sense of duty, not as a show of authority.
He had already read the anger on commuters' faces
Speaking to a television channel afterwards, Suresh Gopi said that as his car pushed through the stalled traffic, he could clearly see the irritation and frustration on the faces of people stuck in the queue, and he realised in that moment exactly what ordinary commuters were going through. "I know a lot of people were upset seeing my convoy, but I'm satisfied that it gave them real relief," he said.
The legal reasoning behind ordering the toll gates open
Suresh Gopi also spelled out the thinking behind his decision. He explained that once a queue at any toll plaza crosses a certain permissible length, existing court directions leave authorities with only one option, open the gates and let vehicles pass through freely. He pointed out that vehicles idling for hours with their engines running waste enormous amounts of fuel, and the smoke they emit adds to both local pollution and heat. He also added that placing the entire blame on toll booth staff isn't fair, since collecting the fixed toll is simply part of their assigned job. According to him, the real fix lies in the district administration, local officials and police coordinating with each other on weekends and heavy-traffic days, so that ordinary travellers aren't repeatedly forced to endure this kind of ordeal.
