Mangaluru, Jan 1: Led by two local MLAs belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party, dozens of people today forcibly stopped toll fee collection at Talapady toll gate on the outskirts of the city allowing vehicles plying between Karnataka and Kerala on the national highway 66 to travel without paying any fee for some time.
Mangaluru City South MLA D Vedavyasa Kamath and Mangaluru City North MLA Y Bharat Shetty, who led the workers, said that the Navayuga Udupi Tollway Pvt. Ltd. (NUTPL), the concessionaire of the about 90-km-long highway widening project between Talapady and Kundapura in Karnataka, had failed to complete the project since over a decade.
The service roads and two flyovers under the project remained uncompleted. Hence motorists were facing a hardship. Notwithstanding Nalin Kumar Kateel, Dakshina Kannada MP, arranging ₹56 crore loan to the NUTPL through Axis Bank to complete the prominent Pumpwell flyover in the city, the company had failed to complete it.
The MLAs said that they stopped the toll collection as a symbolic protest to bring pressure on the company to complete the project within this month.
The BJP workers who gathered near the toll gate around 7.30 a.m. forcibly removed the barricades and made the vehicles ply without paying the fee. The workers of the company managing the toll booth did not resist.
The BJP workers said that vehicles would ply without paying toll till about 6 p.m. If the company resumed the collection during the day on Wednesday, the party workers would again forcibly stop it on Thursday, they said.
Shivaprasad Rai, in-charge of toll collection of the company at Talapady, Hejmady and Sasthana on the same highway told The Hindu that the NUTPL collected about ₹7 lakh as toll fee daily at Talapady from over 12,000 vehicles. The loss on Wednesday could be about ₹4 lakh.
The project is being implemented under build, operate and transfer basis.
Comments
This is a false allegation by this BJP Leader. BJP has no issue now a days and nominated certtain people to give illogic, false and anti national statement. Whatever this local bjp leader telling is nothing but lie. He wants to create trouble in karnataka based on guidance received from his party. Police should do investigatin and in case whatever being told by this local bjp leader is wrong he should be arrested under goonda act. At the same time, in case the Moulvi has said anything wrong apprpriated action should be taken on him. He should respect our nation and should not compare it with Pakistan which is quite instable and people are fighting there themselves. We cant compare Pakistan with India. There is a huge difference between India and pakistan in many issues. India is far better than Pakistan.
Hell with your fake desh bhakti.
BJP leaders know that there are many people who will believe what they say and believe in them without VERIFYING and hate others. Guys GOD has given Us intellect . till when will we guys will be Fooled by the haters of humanity to FOOL us to hate eachother. We need to Wake up and use our god given intellect.. No Muslims want to create a pakistan in india.This concept is only with the Hate mongers who play with the minds of those who are not thinking on their own about the society which was living peacefully by both hindus and muslims since long time.
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