Mangalore Division of the National Highways, under the State Public Works Department, has temporarily suspended collecting toll at Panemangalore on the Mangalore-Bangalore national highway. No toll was collected on Friday, a senior official in the division said. On Thursday, some locals and political parties protested against the collection of toll at both Panemangalore and Brahmarakootlu (by the National Highways Authority of India under the Union government). The distance between the two toll booths is only 4 km.
Following the protest against collecting toll at two places on the same highway, the Chief Engineer of the National Highways, Bangalore, had written to the Chief Engineer of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) seeking an early decision to this effect.
The fee collection at Panemangalore — started in May, 2003 — had been allowed on ‘perpetuity’ (forever) basis. He said of Rs. 37.73 crore spent on the construction of a bridge across the Nethravati, Rs. 13.87 crore had been collected till November 23, 2013, as toll.
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