Weeks ago, the former president of Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators’ Association Dilraj Alva had uploaded a video clipping on social media appealing public to protest against the toll plaza near NITK, Surathkal.
The video clipping had appealed to the public, after a dozen protests and memorandums to remove the toll plaza had received no response from officials and elected representatives.
On Monday, social worker Asif Apathbhandava and his friends launched an indefinite dharna urging the government to remove the NITK toll plaza which was fleecing commuters.
Asif raised slogans on whether the public needed two toll plazas within a distance of 17 km.
This is not the first dharna being launched against the toll plaza. A decade ago, the toll plaza was set up as a temporary toll plaza under the New Mangalore Port Road connectivity project.
Even as the new toll plaza in Hejamadi began functioning, the temporary toll plaza kept receiving extension after extension.
Following agitations by ‘NITK Toll Gate Virodhi Horata Samiti’ National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) decided to merge NITK with Navayug’s Hejamadi toll plaza in 2018. The state government too gave its approval to NHAI’s decision, but due to lack of political will, the toll plazas are yet to be merged.
When DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla launched an 11-day-long agitation against the NITK toll plaza, officials who had initially promised on shifting the NITK toll plaza did not bother to implement promises after Katipalla withdrew the protest.
NHAI in the information obtained under RTI, by activists, including D M Sharikh, Ashok Bhat and Dilraj Alva, admitted that the minimum distance between two plazas should be less than 60 km.
“Under NH Fee rules 2008, the distance can be less than 60 km as a special case,” NHAI had said.
But, NHAI had not revealed on what special grounds NITK toll plaza was allowed to operate within a distance of 60 km.
Asif told DH that the staff at NITK toll plaza were also arrogant and rude with commuters. Asif who had launched a 37-day agitation against Hejamadi toll plaza has vowed not to end the agitation until the toll gate has been removed.
‘Zero facilities offered at NITK toll plaza’
DK Lorry Owners’ Association secretary Sushanth Shetty and Federation of Lorry Owners’ Association vice president Mansoor Ibrahim Maravanthe said each truck had to pay Rs 295 while plying through the NITK toll gate and after covering a distance of 17 km, they have to pay Rs 205 again at Hejamadi toll gate.
“As I own 20 trucks, I am spending nearly Rs 8 lakh annually as toll fee. I also pay road tax to the tune of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 once in three months. After paying in lakhs, NITK toll gate does not have any mandatory facilities like ambulance,” Sushanth Shetty told DH.