Udupi: Members of the Rashtriya Heddari Jagriti Samiti and other like-minded organisations staged a dharna at toll plazas in Sasthan and Hejmady in Udupi district on Thursday.

The protesters said the work of widening National Highway 66 had remained incomplete though the deadline had long passed. The widening work was unscientific and service roads had not been provided in many places between Hejmady and Kundapur, they said.

There were no roadside drains by the side of the highway because of which there was blockage and artificial flooding during monsoon. Though there was demand for not collecting toll from vehicles with Udupi and Mangaluru district registration number, it was still being done surreptitiously, they said.

Speaking at Sasthan, Kota Srinivas Poojary, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, said that the Navayuga Company should immediately complete the construction of a flyover in Kundapur, overpass in Udupi, and widening works at Padubidri. Service roads too should be provided soon. There should be proper changes in areas marked as accident zones on the highway. Bus stands should be constructed at important places and there should be proper lighting facilities on NH 66, he said.

Mr. Poojary said Navayuga Company should not collect toll for vehicles with KA 20 registration numbers at toll plazas in the district till September 30. A meeting would be held at the Deputy Commissioner’s Office on September 30, when the next course of action would be decided. The company should realise that people would not like to pay toll without completion of the works, he said.

R. Shankar, Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment, visited the toll plaza at Hejmady and assured the protesters that he would bring the matter to the notice of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Vinaykumar Sorake, former Minister, and Raghavendra Kanchan, ZP member, were among those present.