Members of the Karnataka Kannada Sene attempted to stop vehicles in front of the toll booth on National Highway 75 (Mangaluru to Bengaluru) at Brahmarakootlu, around 20 km from here, demanding an end to the concept of tolled roads.
The protesters demanded that the government should stop collecting funds from travellers for the construction of roads.
‘Why taxes?’“What is the point of collecting road tax and other taxes, when people have to pay exorbitant amounts every time they pass a toll booth?” asked Chandrashekar A., district president of the organisation.
He said the government should pay a “lumpsum” from the road tax to contractors for construction of roads.
“The concept of toll booths should be abolished. This is just a way of harassing people,” he said.
The protesters symbolically stopped traffic on the busy highway for a few minutes. The organisation threatened to “continue” protests until the toll booths on highways were removed.
