Surathkal tollgate: Samithi to welcome Nitin Gadkari with black flags during M’luru visit

 

As assurances of merging Surathkal toll gate with the one at Hejamadi remain unfulfilled, members of Tollgate Virodhi Horata Samithi of Surathkal have warned of welcoming Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari with black flags during his visit to Mangaluru to flag off national highway development works on January 10.

Samithi convener Muneer Katipalla submitted a memorandum to Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel seeking a meeting with the Union Minister to discuss the issue.

Though the Surathkal toll gate had been established in 2014 on a temporary basis for six months, the contracts for the toll functioning are being renewed for the last several years.

The authorities had given assurances of merging this toll gate with the one at of Hejamadi toll plaza but the promises have not been fulfilled even after the state government wrote to the NHAI for closure of the toll plaza.

“In 2018, the NHAI took a decision to merge the Surathkal toll gate with Hejmadi plaza. Even Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel also made an announcement that the toll gate at Surathkal will be closed shortly. However, the toll plaza continues to collect toll from vehicles at Surathkal even after toll collection started at Hejamadi,” Katipalla said.

He warned that if the MP fails to arrange a meeting with Nitin Gadkari on the issue, the Samiti will hold a black flag protest.