Jalandhar: Full toll charges for bad road

Deepkamal Kaur

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Jalandhar, April 19

The daily commuters between Nakodar to Jagraon are a harried lot as they are being made to pay up a hefty amount as toll charges near Sutlej bridge close to Mehatpur but to no facility.

The commuters between Jalandhar and Moga also use the same passage and there is always a heavy traffic on the road and hence a good collection of toll is being made at the toll plaza. However, in return the people shuttling between these towns are not getting any facility in the name of a smooth, good road.

In fact, the road is badly broken and dusty. It is not even double-lane. There remains a heavy flow of tippers used for mining and hence drive remains very inconvenient.

Narinder Singh, a resident of Nakodar, said: “The road was in good condition when the toll plaza was set up during the Akali regime ahead of their tenure ending in 2017. At that time, we had no issue paying the toll charges. But over the years, the condition of road is getting worse and the charges are getting higher. I have to pay Rs. 90 for both sides if I commute by car across that stretch. Further, the payment has to be made in cash as there is no Fastway tag provision made here”.

Sanjiv Kumar, a Jalandhar resident, said: “The condition of the road is so bad that I do not even understand how the government is allowing levying of toll here. A probe must be ordered as to where the funds collected by the company are getting used.”

The residents said they had no problem till the time the toll plaza remained shut for more than a year when the farmers were on dharna during their kisan morcha. “When we tell the company staff to at least ensure good road if they are levying charges, they tell us that the collection remained affected for a year and that they would do it in coming days. The real problem is of sand tippers plying on the road owing to which the road gets tattered very frequently”, said Sukhmanpreet, a commuter.

Ex-Akali MLA Gurpartap Wadala said: “The toll was started when our government was in power. We had given the recarpeted roads to company on BOT basis. But the successive governments have not ensured that the funds collected are duly utilised. I suspect that the funds that get deposited by the company in the government accounts are rather being diverted for other works.”