BJP MP for stopping toll collection on Shivamogga – Shiralakoppa

Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra conducted a meeting with Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner, and other officers regarding the collection of tolls on the road connecting Shivamogga – Shikaripur and Shiralakoppa in the district, on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra has instructed Shivamogga district administration to send a proposal to the Public Works Department to stop the collection of tolls at two locations on the Shivamogga-Shikaripur-Shiralakoppa-Tadasa highway (State highway 57).

Mr. Raghavendra held a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Gurudatta Hegade and officers of the PWD in Shivamogga on Friday on the toll issue. He said the road connecting Shivamogga and Hanagal was developed during the BJP rule. However, his party government did not allow the toll collection on the highway. Soon after the Congress party came to power, the toll collection began.

“There are two toll plazas within a distance of 30 km. Both points are in Shivamogga district, the developed stretch of the road passes through three districts – Shivamogga, Davangere, and Haveri. People of Shivamogga and Shikaripur have to pay a toll whenever they travel on the stretch,” the MP said.

Members of the raitha morcha of the BJP staged a protest opposing the toll last month. “Our workers have staged the protest. We want the toll payment to be stopped. Two toll plazas within a short distance are unnecessary,” he said.

The representatives of the BJP’s raitha morcha, who also attended the meeting, said that the district administration responded positively to the demand. “We will intensify our protest against the toll collection, if it is not stopped at the earliest,” said Siddalingappa, a BJP office-bearer.