Taxi owners divided on stir plan

Taxi and Lorry Owners’ Associations, which had planned a stir on Saturday over toll collection on National Highway 7 from Friday midnight, have postponed their agitation.

However, K G Ravindra, member of the Bangalore Tourist Taxi and Maxi Cab Association, says it would ensure no taxis ply on the route. “We have given them breathing time. If they do not stop fee collection at the toll plaza before the Trumpet Bridge, then no taxi will go to and from the airport,” he said.

The first toll plaza is located metres before the Trumpet Bridge at 534.84 km on NH-7. The next plaza is at 537.6 km and the last at 563.5 km.

Toll plazas with eight gates have a large number of advertisement hoardings alongside the booths. A police van with two dozen security personnel are on vigil, but S Srinivas, the toll plaza manager, said the toll collection will be smooth, despite the controversy surrounding it.

The road from Hebbal to the Bengaluru International Airport has large portions used for flyover construction work by  Navyug Devanahalli Tollway Private Limited, the agent authorised by the National Highways Authority of India, to collect toll.

For most part, the road width has been reduced to less than 40 feet and the three-lane roads are without signals. Protesting taxi owners associations’ claim collecting toll will make sense only after the entire stretch of the road is free from any construction work.