Thousands of People Protest against Proposed Tollgate at Belman
Karkala: Thousands of agitators under the banner of the Toll Gate Action Committee protested to the against the proposed toll gate at Belmannu on Sunday, October 7.
The agitators demanded roll-back of the decision of constructing the Toll Gate on the Padubidri – Karkala State Highway. Various Vehicle owners’ associations, elected representatives, social organizations, bus owners’ association, autorickshaw unions and religious leaders participated in the protest.
Addressing the protesters, Toll Gate Action Committee convener N Suhas Hegde said that the government has entrusted the responsibility of collecting toll to a private firm, which is an unfair move. The work on the construction of the toll gate has commenced.
He said that setting up a toll plaza on a state highway was an unscientific decision by the state government. The responsibility to collect toll is entrusted to M/s Mithra Info Solutions and the proposed toll collection will begin from October 15.
Condemning the toll collection, he said, “When the issue of collecting the toll was raised a few years ago, the local Gram Panchayat had passed a resolution against it”.
Further, he said that when the proposal came up six months ago, the public protested against it and the idea was dropped. The government is testing the patience of the people in and around Belman, he added.
The state government has come to collect the toll from people who use vehicles in the area. The road is mostly used by the people in and around Belman. He urged the government to withdraw the proposal immediately.