Local residents continue opposition to toll collection at four plazas

Residents of Sasthan-Saligrama in Udupi district staging a protest against mandatory toll collection from local vehicles at Sasthan toll plaza on National Highway 66 on Tuesday.

With FASTag being made mandatory from the beginning of this week, local commuters along National Highway 66 in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts continued their opposition to toll collection from local commuters through the highway at four toll plazas.

Residents of Sasthan-Saligrama and surrounding villages in Udupi district staged a protest under the banner of “Heddari Jagruthi Samithi” against toll collection for local commuting at Sasthan Toll Plaza on Tuesday. Samithi president Shyam Sunder Nairy said that local residents will continue with their peaceful protest and will not budge from their decision not to pay toll fee.

Brahmavar Tahsildar Kiran Gowraiah, Udupi Deputy Superintendent of Police Sudhakar S. Naik, Brahmavar Circle Inspector of Police Ananth Padmanabha and other officials arrived at the spot and made efforts to pacify the agitators.

However, the protesting residents ensured vehicles of local residents passed the plaza without paying toll.

Memorandum

Concerned citizens in Dakshina Kannada submitted a memorandum to Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari through MP and State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel in Mangaluru on Tuesday. Demanding immediate closure of the NITK-Surathkal Toll Plaza, they said that the presence of two toll plazas, one at Surathkal and the nother at Hejmady, within a distance of 15 km was against all tenets of natural justice.

Moreover, the plaza was located within the municipal limits of Mangaluru City Corporation and hence could not continue to exist, they said.

Besides closing down the toll plaza, the amounts so far collected by the National Highways Authority of India should be deposited with the corporation to undertake works of service roads and lighting, they demanded.

Mahabala Rai, Dinakar Mithrapatna, Aloysius Monteiro, Prashant Kanchan, M.G. Ramachandra, Harush Aithal, Arjun Mascarenhas, Yathish Baikampady and others were present.

Meanwhile, personnel manning the Talapady toll plaza on Karnataka-Kerala border did not allow free passage of vehicles of local residents on Tuesday.

Hitherto, residents within the 5 km radius of the plaza were allowed to drive their vehicles through the plaza without paying toll.