JOIN USTaxi drivers, who used to wait at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) during lunch time, will have a new problem with collection of toll on National Highway 7.
Till now, many of them used to drive towards Chikkajala and nearby townships during lunch and dinner time. This was done to avoid the Rs 50 meals which airport canteens provide. With the toll booth functioning and charging Rs 25 for each trip, the drivers will henceforth, think twice about plying to nearby areas.
This problem will antagonise the taxi and lorry owners’ associations in the city further. The associations have decided not to ply to and fro BIA starting Monday.
It is not only taxi drivers who have a problem. Residents living beyond the Trumpet Bridge area commute on NH-7 daily. The Rs-600 monthly pass which allows only 50 trips a month will be an additional expenditure they have not included in their monthly budget. Srinivasa Jain, who lives with his family near Devanahalli Fort, says: “I travel to Hebbal as my office is located there. With prices of fuel and essential commodities increasing, such unnecessary expenses will add to the burden.”
Raghunath Shetty has been a resident of Yelahanka for almost four decades now. He says:
“It is not toll collection which bothers residents in the area, but the location of the first toll plaza before the Trumpet Bridge. A small deviation can now cost you Rs 25. Vehicle owners pay tax in so many other ways. The claim made by authorities that toll is important is ridiculous. The road condition is pathetic than ever before.”