Fatehgarh Sahib MP urges Union Minister Gadkari to reduce toll on National Highway-44 as contractor fails to fulfil obligations

The Fatehgarh Sahib Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Amar Singh, recently met Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi and urged him to reduce the toll on National Highway No. 44 since the private contractor failed to keep up with obligations of the contract.

Dr Amar Singh informed the minister that the contractor of NH-44 had realised a massive amount of toll in the past 15 years from commuters using the Sirhind-Ludhiana road. The support facilities were in no way up to the mark and left under developed, the MP shared.

Dr Amar Singh told the minister that 50 per cent of service roads had been left incomplete. “A majority of the entry and exit ramps have not been prepared thus leading to makeshift solutions which lead to regular accidents. No traffic and medical aid posts are found anywhere. There are no proper streetlights on the 220 km stretch. The bridges have not been upgraded to match the new six-lane width of highway,” the MP said.

Dr Amar Singh asked Gadkari to ensure that the missing infrastructure was developed or toll reduced to give relief to travellers. He also requested the minister regarding construction of an underpass at Kotla Shamshpur village on the Kharar-Ludhiana National Highway.

He also requested for foot overbridges with ramps at Khant and Ghulal villages to help reduce problems faced by villagers while crossing Ludhiana-Kharar expressway. The minister promised that he would look into issues and try to resolve them at the earliest.

Earlier, Dr Amar Singh took up the issue of ramp crossing for students of the Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Sahnewal, which the finally saw the light of day.