Accident bringing down part of dysfunctional NITK-Surathkal tollgate exposes safety hazard

One more accident where a vegetable-laden truck hit the dysfunctional toll booth structure at the NITK-Surathkal tollgate and brought down some parts of the structure on early Sunday morning has again exposed the danger being posed to motorists by the structure.

One more accident where a vegetable-laden truck hit the dysfunctional toll booth structure at the NITK-Surathkal tollgate and brought down some parts of the structure on early Sunday morning has again exposed the danger being posed to motorists by the structure.

The truck moving from Bengaluru towards Udupi hit the iron pillars supporting the toll booth shelter after its driver lost control of the vehicle at around 1.30 a.m. Parts of the structure came down when the truck overturned while similar damage was reported in earlier incidents too.

With narrow two plus two concreted lanes having no lighting confusing drivers, the stretch near NITK has become a nightmare for drivers, alleged the Surathkal Tollgate Virodhi Horata Samithi. The samithi, led by Muneer Katipalla, has been urging the National Highways Authority of India to remove the structure ever since toll collection was halted at the tollgate from December 2022.

The four-lane National Highway 66 suddenly gets narrowed down to two plus two lanes of carriageway inside the tollgate. Motorists cruising the highway suddenly get confused and fail to navigate the narrow lanes inside the tollgate resulting in accidents, particularly in the nights, Mr. Katpalla said.

Police said a 20-year-old engineering student riding pillion on a motorcycle died and his friend, who was riding, was injured after the duo fell off the vehicle while negotiating an unmarked road hump near the tollgate in March 2023. Several incidents of heavy vehicles hitting the toll structure damaging it were reported earlier.

Expressing concern over the presence of toll infrastructure that is putting the life of motorists at risk, the samithi said NHAI should forthwith remove the dysfunctional tollgate infrastructure and facilitate free movement of vehicles. “If no action is taken, the samiti will be forced to launch ‘direct action’ for clearing the structure,” said Mr. Katipalla.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and Mangaluru city MLAs D. Vedavyasa Kamath and Y. Bharath Shetty have failed in their duty to redress concerns of people about the unused toll structure, Mr. Katipalla said.