Mangaluru: Toll plazas located at Talapady, Brahmarakootlu and Suratkal, coming under the Dakshina Kannada district, witnessed major traffic congestion after the government issued an order extending the deadline for FASTags to become mandatory by 30 days.
There was a lot of confusion at the toll plazas and traffic got congested as cash lanes saw long queues. Traffic in the FASTag lanes wasn’t seamless either, as many commuters had an insufficient balance in their RFID stickers. Many motorists complained that they had bought the FASTag cards online but these were yet to be delivered to them.
Non-FASTag vehicles had to enter a separate lane to pay cash and there was a long line of vehicles, forcing the toll plazas to open another lane for cash collection on Monday. This caused an ease in the traffic congestion compared to Sunday.
The employees at all toll plazas were seen announcing and directing vehicles with the FASTag sticker to use the reserved lanes and diverting other vehicles to the cash lanes.The lack of supply of FASTags near the toll plazas also caused a lot of inconvenience for the passengers.
Quarrel at Talapady toll plaza
A quarrel erupted between toll plaza employees and bus operators at the Talapady toll plaza on Monday, as the latter demanded a separate lane for them to pay toll. However, the toll plaza employees refused to entertain their demands which led to a clash between them. It is alleged that a local BJP leader and an activist assaulted a toll plaza employee during their quarrel.
