Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (SP)

Karkala, Nov 25: It has come to light that the government, which had put on hold the proposal to set up tollgate at Belman for the state highway connecting Padubidri with Karkala, again has been making secretive efforts to install the toll plaza there. On Sunday November 24, the villagers sent back people who had come to the village for undertaking survey.

The survey work has been going on since the last three days in a hotel in Belman. People connected with the hotel leaked this information. After the plan came to their knowledge on Sunday night, people decided to hold protest at 9 am on Monday November 25 at the spot that has been identified for the tollgate.

In the past, those who were sitting by the side of the road and conducting survey were stopped from going ahead with survey work. It is said that now the people undertaking survey work were recording registered numbers of vehicles moving on the road through the window of the said hotel. The activists and locals immediately rushed to the hotel and surrounded it but by then, the staff involved with survey work escaped.

About a year back, over 10,000 protesters had joined together to express themselves against the plan. The then deputy commissioner of the district had informed them that no further steps would be taken without bringing to the notice of the action committee. Convener of the action committee, Nandalike Suhas Hegde, said that a strong protest would be launched against attempt being made to hold survey again. He said that tollgate at Belman will not be allowed and that the protesters are prepared for stronger forms of protest if the government does not respond to peaceful protest.