Siddaramaiah asks Gadkari to reschedule foundation laying ceremony for Shivamogga National Highway project

He said that he was not consulted before the finalisation of the project's dedication and foundation ceremony on July 14, despite his name being included in the draft invitation card.

"I have not been intimated about this programme in advance, and an inauguration programme of various developmental schemes is already scheduled under my Chairmanship in Indi Taluka, Vijyapura District on the same day," Siddaramaiah said in a letter.

Asking Gadkari to instruct his department to coordinate while organising such events, the CM said that it would have been "appropriate" for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to have consulted with the Karnataka government before scheduling the state-level programs.

"It would have been more appropriate for MoRTH to have consulted with the State Government before scheduling the State Level programmes. Therefore, I request you to instruct the department to coordinate with the state government while organising such programmes. Also, I request you to postpone this programme and provide me a couple of dates convenient to you, so that I would be able to join you in this significant state-level programme," the letter read.

This comes as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, along with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), was organising a "Dedication to Nation and Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony" program on July 14 at Nehru Field in Shimoga district.

Earlier, the NHAI further strengthened its policy to immediately report and blacklist 'loose FASTags', commonly known as 'tag-in-hand', to ensure smooth tolling operations, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said in a release.

With the move, the authority has further streamlined its policy for the Toll Collecting Agencies and Concessionaires to immediately report 'loose FASTags'.

In view of upcoming initiatives like the Annual Pass System and Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling, it is critical to address this issue to ensure FASTag authenticity and system reliability, the release stated.

FASTags are sometimes deliberately not fixed on the windscreen of the vehicle by the owners. Such practices pose operational challenges leading to lane congestion, generation of false chargebacks, misuse in closed loop tolling system, causing overall disruption of the Electronic Toll Collection framework, resulting in unnecessary delays at toll plazas and inconvenience to other National Highway users, it highlighted.

To ensure timely corrective measures, NHAI has provided a dedicated email ID and has directed the Toll Collection Agencies and Concessionaires to immediately report such FASTags.Based on the reports received, NHAI will take immediate action to initiate blacklisting/hotlisting of the reported FASTags. (ANI)