Udupi/Mangaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that government had already asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to vacate the toll gate.

“We also submitted a report on this also. Thus, the NHAI will have to remove the toll gate in Surathkal,” he told reporters in Udupi on Monday.

With the indefinite protest against Surathkal toll gate entering the 11th day, the Toll Gate Virodhi Horata Samithi members continued the protest by wearing black clothes on Monday.

Action committee convener Muneer Katipalla said MP Nalin Kumar Kateel had failed to keep his promise on vacating the toll gate.

“None of the MP’s assurances, including supplying sand for Rs 2,000 per load and providing jobs to local youth in MRPL, SEZ, had not been implemented so far. “The MP has lost his credibility and is not able to face people,” he said.

He said the BJP government has failed to fulfil the demands of people. “The chief minister took a helicopter from Bengaluru to Udupi to avoid protesters in Surathkal,” he charged.

Former minister Vinay Kumar Sorake said they had expected that the toll gate will be removed but it has remained only on paper.