Karnataka: In a rather amusing incident, few angry villagers of Village Hejamadi, frustrated by the fee they are required to pay on the toll booth, use an earthmover to pave the path for a 'parallel' road beside the toll booth in the busy Mangalore-Udupi highway.
Recently, FASTag has been made compulsory for all vehicles that pass through toll booths, and this has often resulted in clashes between angry locals and the toll companies over concessions. The locals have made the demand for an option of a toll-free service but no heed was paid to the demand made. Frustrated by this, the villagers of the coastal region of Karnataka took it into their own hands to construct a 'parallel road beside the toll booth.
Only the registered vehicles that belong to Hejamadi were granted concession but four buses, which pick up people from that village wasn't allowed any concession. The local gram panchayat then filed a petition to the concessionaire granting a concession for the four buses. The promise of granting them permission for the concession was never fulfilled, resulting in the panchayat holding an emergency meeting after which with the help of a JCB a parallel toll-free road was constructed. As the news of this development reached the headquarters, a representative of the concessionaire came to the spot and requested them to stop the construction. Only after a written assurance was issued by the concessionaire, the villagers decided to discontinue the construction of the toll-free road.
After the introduction of the FASTag for vehicles, there have been numerous protests all across the state.
Meanwhile, it is important to know that Assam is the highest toll fee-charging state in the entire country. We must hope that the funds collected should at least go towards the development of the roads otherwise we may get to witness similar incidents here as well.