Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced that Kiratpur Sahib-Anandpur Sahib-Nangal-Una Toll Plaza will be made free to commuters. While making the announcement he said that the company that was given responsibility for the maintenance has flouted the norms and was heavily charging the commuters. As a result, their application to levy the toll in future will now be rejected. On the occasion, CM Mann said that their government has closed eight toll plazas in the last one year. He alleged that the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress governments in the state had favoured the concessionaire and didnt take action even though they were violating rules. He assured people that their government would take action against the then-PWD ministers of these governments who failed in taking action against the concessionaire. He also added that they will ensure that PWD will maintain the roads properly. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann also took to Twitter saying, “We will not tolerate looting of peoples money. Today Kiratpur Sahib-Anandpur Sahib-Nangal-Una Toll Plaza will be made free. The public will be able to save Rs 10 lakh 12 thousand per day. The company has extended the period by 582 days. Application rejected. Company Violation of agreement Multiple times. Details soon.”Earlier last month, Majari, Nangal Shaheedan and Mangrah toll plaza was closed by the Punjab government. While addressing the press conference, he also lashed out at former PWD ministers such as Pratap Singh Bajwa of Congress, Parminder Singh Dhindsa from Akali Dal and Sukhbir Singh Badal for looting money. He added that with the closure of these three tolls, people will be able to save over Rs 10 lakh every day. Similarly, in December Punjab CM also announced the closure of the Lachowal toll plaza on the Hoshiarpur-Tanda road. He said that the previous governments mortgaged the roads of Punjab to make profits and assured people that his government has come to give relief to people. CM Bhagwant Mann, on the closure of these toll plazas, said, “The state government has taken a stand for the public to shut down this toll plaza and put an end to the harassment of the general public. Notably, the agreement for Kiratpur Sahib-Nangal-Una the toll plaza road was signed during the tenure of Amarinder Singh in October 2006 but started its operations during the regime of Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP in November 2007. He claimed that although the toll plaza operator was supposed to finish the overlay by November 2013, it wasnt finished until 2014. He added that the second overlay was laid with an additional 1,093-day delay and was completed in 2020.CM Mann also claimed that no one bothered to take action despite the possibility that the delay could have prompted retaliatory action and resulted in the cancellation of the agreement with the agency. The corporation owes the state Rs 67 crore as a result of this incompetence, but Mann claimed that prior administrations have given the agency favours rather than trying to get their hands on the money. Moreover, Mann stated that the firm was requesting a 582-day extension under the guise of the farmers strike and the Covid epidemic.The toll which has been made free connects people to many holy places such as Sri Anandpur Sahib, Naina Devi and others.Punjab govt may move the court for RDF fundsChief Minister Bhagwant Mann during the visit also lashed out at the Union government for harassing them by stalling funds worth Rs 30,000 crore under the RDF. He said that their government is planning to move to court seeking the pending Rural Development Funds.
