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As protests against the steep toll hike on the road leading to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) entered the fourth day on Wednesday, cab operators demanded that the state government pitch in. Meanwhile a former PM too lent weight to the stir.

With the issue being deadlocked, a cab operators' union suggested that the government defray the cost incurred in building the elevated expressway by picking up the bill, reasoning that it would bring down the toll from INR 75 to INR 21.

On Wednesday, former PM HD Deve Gowda joined the protesters and spent a brief while with them at Sadahalli toll plaza. Traffic on the road was not disrupted as police had cordoned off the protesters.

Radhakrishna Holla, secretary of Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners Association, said, "The union is likely to meet the government by Friday to urge it to reduce the burden on road users. We have calculated that if the government pays INR 220 crore that was spent to build the elevated road and another INR 80 crore towards inflation, the toll would fall to INR 21." Officials from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had earlier said the toll hike could be rolled back only if the state government bore the cost of constructing the expressway.

Holla also pointed out that Bangalore is the only place where entering the city from the airport is a drain on wallet. "There are elevated sections towards Hyderabad and Chandigarh airports but no toll is charged for use of infrastructure there," he added.

Cab and bus operators under the banner of All India Motor Transport Corporation (AIMTC) are going to call for a massive protest by seven-and-a-half lakh commercial vehicles from Friday. Registered airport cab operators like Meru, Mega and KSTDC, however, won't join the stir.

Toll booth stoned: The protest on Wednesday threatened to go out of hand when a toll booth at Sadahalli was stoned in the morning. However, police presence was augmented to ensure that the protests did not spill over and affect traffic movement. Ninety people were taken into preventive custody. Only 10 of the 20 booths are operational at Sadahalli.

Locals alleged lobbying by NHAI and Navayuga to force people to take tolled roads. Sri Gopalaswamy, representative of a farmers' group from Devanahalli, rued, "The arrangement made here is to force everybody to take the toll road. These lands belonged to farmers but despite giving it away for infrastructural development, the government policy is only anti-farmer."

Meanwhile, unidentified miscreants vandalised NHAI's office in Peenya earlier in the morning. Two window panes were broken, following which a police complaint was registered in Peenya police station.

Source-On Request