Congress stages protest on Pune-Bengaluru nat’l highway amid poor road conditions
The highway is currently full of potholes, making the journey time-consuming. Despite the poor road conditions and incomplete work, tolls are being collected from vehicles, claim politicos
Due to bad road conditions, the Congress held protests on Saturday in Satara and Kolhapur on the Pune-Bengaluru national highway, allowing vehicles to pass through without paying toll.
The highway is currently full of potholes, making the journey time-consuming. Despite the poor road conditions and incomplete work, tolls are being collected from vehicles, claimed Congress leaders.
The agitation was carried out at different toll plazas in Kolhapur, Satara and Pune districts.
In Satara, former chief minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan and former minister Vishwajit Kadam called the protest at Taswade toll plaza in Karad. Hundreds of party activists and residents have participated in the protest.
The highway was also blocked in Kolhapur by protesters, and there was a huge row of vehicles on it.
Satej Patil, a Congress leader, said, “There are large potholes on NH4 connecting Pune and Bengaluru and it goes from Satara and Kolhapur districts. The service road is poor, and people travelling on it must face traffic jams. For a long time, we have been demanding authorities to repair the road, but the problem continues.”
“The government should have fixed this problem in January, but there was serious negligence towards the issue. Therefore, we have called a protest today. A deadline should be fixed for repair work and there should be no toll tax collection, till the work get completed,’ he said.
Chavan said, “National highway authority officials have visited the spot today. I am also in touch with the administrative officers from Kolhapur and Satara. We have a very clear demand that the service road should be repaired immediately. The work is also going on at the main road, and traffic should be managed properly.”
“All the work should be finished within the next seven to eight days and no toll should be collected if the government cannot provide proper roads,” he said.