Vijay C Roy
Chandigarh/Hoshiarpur, February 15
Turning down the request of toll operators for extension, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today announced to shut down three more toll plazas on state highways, taking the total to six in less than six months.
The CM today ordered the closure of toll plazas at Majari (SBS Nagar), Nangal Shaheedan and Mangarh (Hoshiarpur) on Balachaur-Garhshankar-Hoshiarpur-Dasuya road as the contract of the company to collect toll was valid till February 14.
All three toll plazas were operated by Rohan Rajdeep Tollways (P) Ltd. Mann had earlier said that his government would not grant extension to any of toll companies and all toll plazas in the state would be removed on the expiry of existing agreements.
With this closure, the state is left with 14 operational toll plazas on state highways. National Highways in the state have 32 toll plazas.
Previously, the Chief Minister ordered the closure of Lachowal toll plaza on the Hoshiarpur-Tanda road in December last year and two toll plazas on Ludhiana – Malerkotla – Sangrur road whose tenure ended on September 4, 2022.
Announcing the closure of the toll plazas today, the Chief Minister said that with the closing of these toll plazas, the public would save Rs 10.52 lakh daily.
He alleged that these three toll plazas should have been closed around 10 years back as their term had expired but instead of closing those, the erstwhile government connived with them to mint money illegally.
The Chief Minister said that the toll plaza company had sought extension of contract from his government for 533 days by citing 101 days of Covid and 432 days of the farmers’ agitation. He said that his government rejected this unjustified demand outright.
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