The Tollgate Virodhi Horata Samithi on Friday urged Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, and Y. Bharath Shetty, Mangaluru City North MLA, to either vacate the “illegal” tollgate at NITK, Surathkal, on national highway 66 by June 22 as promised or tender resignation accepting their failure to fulfil the promise.
Ninety days get completed on June 22 by which time Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had announced in the Lok Sabha to vacate all toll plazas situated within a distance of 60 km. When public outrage against the continuation of the toll plaza at NITK intensified this March, Mr. Kateel met Mr. Gadkari and announced that the Minister had directed the shifting of the toll plaza within the premises of New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA), said samithi convener Muneer Katipalla.
He told reporters here that elected representatives of the region had miserably failed to get the toll plaza, which was ostensibly opened just for six months, vacated even after seven years. Located within the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) limits against norms and functioning within 30 km distance of another toll plaza at Hejamady, the NITK plaza was patently illegal, Mr. Katipalla claimed.
Notwithstanding the promise to get it vacated within 90 days, attempts were being made to renew the toll collection contract. This has prompted various organisations fighting against the illegal toll plaza to intensify their struggle, he said.
Taking strong exception to the reported statement of Dr. Shetty that activists were taking money and they were fake activists working for a commission, Mr. Katipalla dared the MLA to lodge a police complaint in that regard. An elected representative levelling such serious charges without any proof was condemnable, he said, inviting the MLA to lead the protest against the toll plaza as announced. But Dr. Shetty should make it clear against whom he would be protesting, as the entire administration, from the MCC to the Central government, was being ruled by his own party.
The MLA should also explain the reasons behind the non-closure of the toll plaza and also that to which party the toll collection contractor, sub-contractor, and others associated with the toll plaza belong to.
The former Deputy Mayor Purushottam Chitrapura, leaders M. Devadas, and Dinesh Hegde Ulepadi were present.
