Toll collection starts at Ladhowal barrier

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 21

Extending a relief to the company managing toll collection at the Ladhowal barrier in Ludhiana, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the orders of the Permanent Lok Adalat (PLA), which had earlier ordered the company to stop toll collection for its failure to remove encroachments along the national highway and ignoring safety norms, till April 27.

After getting orders from the High Court, the company started collecting toll on Saturday evening. Commuters turned furious when the officials did not let them pass without paying the toll. The police reached the spot and controlled the situation.

Several commuters laid siege to the toll barrier. The officials of the company had a tough time convincing the commuters that the High Court had allowed the company to collect toll till April 27, when the court will again hold hearing on the issue.

Dinesh Kumar, assistant manager at the toll barrier, said many commuters misbehaved with the employees, saying that toll fee was waived by the lok adalat. “We have now put up a copy of the HC orders on the barriers,” he added.

“We have numbers of several vehicles which crossed the barrier without paying toll. We are going to submit a complaint to seek action against them,” Dinesh asserted.