Mangaluru: Chaos prevailed at Talapady tollgate on Wednesday after private city bus operators staged a flash protest over installation of dividers at the tollgate.
The dividers hindered the movement of city buses, which take a U-turn before the Talapady tollgate, to avoid toll. However, the dividers were removed after the police intervened. The tussle between toll booth operators and city private bus owners has been going on from sometime now, ever since implementation of FASTag.
Due to the fee issue, city buses on the Mangaluru-Talapady route have been cutting short their trips, the last 100 metres, to avoid the tollgate at Talapady, after implementation of FASTag.
Dilraj Alva, president of the Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators’ Association said on Wednesday that all of a sudden toll booth operators have installed dividers across toll booths, making it difficult to take a turn from the Talapady tollgate. “Irked with this sudden development, which was done to harass city buses, we staged a protest, and after the police interveded, the same was removed,” he said, adding that the MP and DC asked toll operators to maintain the status quo, till a final decision is taken on the toll fee.
Dilraj explained that about 28 city buses ply to Talapady every day. Before the implementation of FASTag, all the vehicles were passing by the toll gate for free. The distance between Talapady toll gate to the last stop is about a km. “Now tollbooth operators are demanding a fee of Rs 30,000 per month for each bus but we are negotiating to pay Rs 4,500. A bus operator cannot pay such a huge amount as toll fee each month and sustain business,” he said.
Jurisdictional police said that a meeting between bus operators and toll booth contractors is scheduled on Saturday to decide about the toll fee.
‘Shift Surathkal tollgate’
Karanam Uma Maheshwar Rao, director, National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal on Tuesday requested Union minister of human resources development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal to shift the toll gate in front of the 60-year-old technical institution.
He said that the toll gate is causing inconvenience to NITK Surathkal staff and students. It is important to shift the Surathkal toll gate due to safety concerns, especially for girl students. NITK Surathkal was the first institution to protest against the toll booth, citing security and safety of the students as well as children, who study at the school on campus. However, the authorities never gave paid heed to their plea. The tollgate is 12m away from the technical institution, which has around 5,500 students. Also, nearly 1,200 children from LKG to high school study in Kannada and English medium schools situated in the same campus.
The campus is spread on both sides of the road. Since 2011, NITK authorities have written more than six letters to the district administration and chief secretary of the state government.
The dividers hindered the movement of city buses, which take a U-turn before the Talapady tollgate, to avoid toll. However, the dividers were removed after the police intervened. The tussle between toll booth operators and city private bus owners has been going on from sometime now, ever since implementation of FASTag.
Due to the fee issue, city buses on the Mangaluru-Talapady route have been cutting short their trips, the last 100 metres, to avoid the tollgate at Talapady, after implementation of FASTag.
Dilraj Alva, president of the Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators’ Association said on Wednesday that all of a sudden toll booth operators have installed dividers across toll booths, making it difficult to take a turn from the Talapady tollgate. “Irked with this sudden development, which was done to harass city buses, we staged a protest, and after the police interveded, the same was removed,” he said, adding that the MP and DC asked toll operators to maintain the status quo, till a final decision is taken on the toll fee.
Dilraj explained that about 28 city buses ply to Talapady every day. Before the implementation of FASTag, all the vehicles were passing by the toll gate for free. The distance between Talapady toll gate to the last stop is about a km. “Now tollbooth operators are demanding a fee of Rs 30,000 per month for each bus but we are negotiating to pay Rs 4,500. A bus operator cannot pay such a huge amount as toll fee each month and sustain business,” he said.
Jurisdictional police said that a meeting between bus operators and toll booth contractors is scheduled on Saturday to decide about the toll fee.
‘Shift Surathkal tollgate’
Karanam Uma Maheshwar Rao, director, National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal on Tuesday requested Union minister of human resources development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal to shift the toll gate in front of the 60-year-old technical institution.
He said that the toll gate is causing inconvenience to NITK Surathkal staff and students. It is important to shift the Surathkal toll gate due to safety concerns, especially for girl students. NITK Surathkal was the first institution to protest against the toll booth, citing security and safety of the students as well as children, who study at the school on campus. However, the authorities never gave paid heed to their plea. The tollgate is 12m away from the technical institution, which has around 5,500 students. Also, nearly 1,200 children from LKG to high school study in Kannada and English medium schools situated in the same campus.
The campus is spread on both sides of the road. Since 2011, NITK authorities have written more than six letters to the district administration and chief secretary of the state government.
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