Congress leaders shut Ladhowal toll plaza, start relay protest at site
Saturday, 09/03/2019
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LUDHIANA: Congress leaders, led by MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, forcibly shut the Ladhowal toll plaza on the Panipat-Jalandhar highway on Friday. Party leaders have also started a relay protest to stop the collection of toll. Their main demand is that the company concerned, Soma Enterprises, complete construction of three pending flyovers on the national highway passing through the city.
The three locations are the Basti Jodhewal Chowk, the Sherpur Chowk and the Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital crossing. The toll for a car going from Ludhiana to Jalandhar, up-down, is ₹185, making it among the costlier plazas in the region.
MLA Surinder Dawar stopped the functioning of the plaza at 11am. By 11.30am, high drama was seen as hundreds of Congress workers and leaders thronged the site, and opened the toll barriers. This allowed free passage to vehicles. Heavy police force remained deployed.
“The construction company has failed to meet the deadline of the project that was 2011. The regional office of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and a Vidhan Sabha Committee has recommended that the collection of toll be suspended. Even the deputy commissioner had recommended the suspension of toll collection in February,” Bittu said, adding the firm collected around ₹1,800 crore as toll since 2009.
“Accidents and traffic congestion are routine despite the toll. Why should residents pay, if they are not provided the infrastructure,” Bittu claimed. State minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, MLAs Sanjay Talwar, Kuldeep Vaid, Dawar and mayor Balkar Sandhu accompanied the MP. DESIGNS NOT APPROVED YET, CLAIMS FIRM
Soma Entreprises deputy general manager, toll operations, Nimesh Tiwari, said, “The project has been delayed as the designs for Sherpur Chowk and Mohan Dai Cancer Hospital Chowk have not been approved.”
If the company would lodge a police case against the Congress leadership, Tiwari said, “We will take action after discussion with police officials. Our priority is to start toll collection, as it is legal.” BITTU SLAMS GADKARI, SAD-BJP HITS BACK
Bittu accused Union minister of road transport and highways of not completing work on the project due to vested interest. “Gadkari ensured that work started at Phagwara, but Ludhiana has been ignored for political reasons.” SAD’s Maheshinder Singh Grewal said, “This is cheap politics from Bittu. If they are sincere, their government can deploy police at the plaza to ensure it does not function.”
