Mounesh Vishwakarma
Pics: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (EP)
Bantwal, Apr 25: A massive protest was held at Brahmarakootlu toll gate here on Friday April 25 under the leadership of Bantwal taluk Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti, demanding the shifting of the toll gate.
The protesters shouted slogans against high handedness of the staff and collection of irregular toll charges and demanded that the toll gate be shifted elsewhere. They blocked the road and stopped the collection of toll by entering the toll booth.
Samiti president and zilla panchayat member Chandraprakash Shetty said that the toll is being collected even though the four lane work is not completed here. "There is no space here and no basic facilities either. Under the circumstances this is an unauthorized toll gate and it should be shifted immediately," he demanded.
"As there is no computerized gate, the government is being cheated without disclosing accounts. Passengers also are unfairly charged more than the ones fixed rates. The personnel here have joined hands with political parties and are acting like rowdies with the commuers. At times the toll is being collected by showing gun.
If the toll gate is not shifted, the people themselves will have to take action," he warned.
Congress leader Harikrishna Bantwal addressed the protesters and said that it is illegal to construct toll plaza unless the highway work is completed. "The staff of the toll plaza treats the passengers in an uncivilized manner. As the toll plaza is constructed without proper technology, vehicles have to wait in long lines resulting in traffic jam," he said.
Zilla panchayat member M S Mohammed, Mamatha Gatty, and others spoke urging the shifting of the toll plaza and warned of large scale protests if the government fails to act.
B Padmashekar Jain, Mayilappa Salian, Abbas Ali, Padmashekar Jain, Prakash Shetty Thumbe, Pius L Rodrigues, Padmanabha Rai, Parameshwara, B K Idinabba, Madhusoodhan Shenoy, Sadashiva Bangera, Mohammed Sharif, Ramakrishna Alva and others were present.
When protests were going on one side, a group of youths went to the toll booths and asked vehicles drivers not to pay the toll. Some vehicles passed by without paying the toll. While a grim situation prevailed, Chandraprakash Shetty and police intervened and diffused the situation.
Protesters also sat on the road and blocked the traffic. A memorandum was submitted to the union minister of surface transport, chief minister of Karnataka, district incharge minister and project director of National Highway Authority of India through Bantwal taluk tahsildar Malleswamy and assistant commissioner Sadashiva Prabhu.
Sadashiva Prabhu who spoke after receiving the memorandum, promised that the demands would be scrutinized and further action taken. The protest was withdrawn after the assurance.
The traffic was affected for sometime due to the agitation. Police security was arranged in view of the protests.