BELAGAVI
Protesting against the toll imposed by NHAI authorities from Tuesday morning, farmers from Belagavi and Khanapur stalled the toll collection at the Ganebail toll plaza on the Belagavi-Goa NH748.
A large number of activists and farmers who had gathered at Ganebail toll plaza on Tuesday morning asked the booth staff at the plaza to stop the collection immediately.
BJP leader Pramod Kocheri and others warned NHAI authorities not to start the toll till the completion of the incomplete stretches on the highway.
“The NHAI has not completed the work on the NHAI stretch between Belagavi and Khanapur. A few stretches and service roads are still incomplete. Moreover, farmers are yet to receive their compensation for their lands that were acquired by the NHAI. Hence, we have strongly opposed the collection of the toll on this highway at a premature stage,” Kocheri said.
Speaking on the occasion, former MLA Arvind Patil said a toll can be levied on a highway of a minimum distance of 30 kms.
“But the NHAI is doing it only for a 16-km length highway, which is wrong,” he said.
