Bengaluru: Aam Aadmi Party’s Karnataka state communication in-charge Brijesh Kalappa on Wednesday demanded closure of toll plazas in the state, on the lines his party’s government in Punjab.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s state office, Kalappa said, “Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann are going to each toll plaza and verifying — What was in the PPP type agreement, how much money should have been collected, how much money has been collected, which toll should have been closed, and later they are taking appropriate action.”
“Eight toll plazas have been shut down since the AAP government came to power in Punjab. But in Karnataka, for the greed of commission, the toll plazas continue to function despite the expiry of the period,” he claimed.
“Action should be taken against many toll plazas whose term has expired, including the Tumkur toll plaza where 20 years tenure has elapsed. The tolls are added burden to the people who are already troubled by the hike in petrol prices,” said Kalappa.
“We had said that the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway is not a ten-lane but a six-lane one. Later, the government also accepted this. Toll was not levied when the highway was converted from two lanes to four lanes.
“In the same way, even now when six-lanes are made from four lanes, it should have helped the common people without charging toll. It would have then made sense if the government had boasted of giving roads for free.
While the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi has opened swimming pools in government schools, swimming pools are getting created on their own on the roads developed by the BJP government,” said Kalappa.
