: DMK working president M K Stalin today demanded roll back of the toll fee hike in National Highways in Tamil Nadu and closure of 20-year-old toll plazas.
Over "40 per cent" hike has been effected by the National Highways Authority of India, affecting as many as 20 plazas functioning in Tamil Nadu, he said.
Stalin urged the National Highways Authority of India and the central government to immediately withdraw the hike and close down toll plazas functioning over 20 years.
Terming the increase, which comes into effect today, as "anti-people," he said the hike by NHAI has come when there is a demand to altogether scrap collection of fee in toll plazas.
Alleging that the fee is being increased in "instalment basis," he said the last hike was in September 2016. Such upward revisions would only lead to an increase in prices of essential commodities, he said.
In a statement here, Stalin, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said the spiral effect would impact the common man.
Roads were among the basic amenities a government should provide and collecting fee for it meant wavering off the path of democracy, he said.
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