Firm stops charging toll, keeps record of vehicles

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana April 19

Abiding by an order of the Permanent Lok Adalat, Kapurthala, the company concerned has stopped charging toll at the Ladhowal barrier. However, the staff are maintaining a record of vehicular movement with the purpose to gauge the daily loss being incurred due to the court order.

On Wednesday, Lok Insaaf Party MLA Simarjit Singh Bains had also reached the toll barrier and argued with the toll plaza employees for charging a fee despite the court orders. The company’s plea was that it was yet to get any official order from the court, which had called for the suspension of toll service for a specific period. Bains deployed his men at the barrier on Thursday too. They were carrying big banners about court orders and telling commuters to pass without paying anything.

Assistant manager of the toll barrier Dinesh Kumar said they would not charge toll till further orders. He, however, said the toll company so far had not received a copy of the court orders and even the NHAI had not sent them any such communication.

Acting on a petition filed against the NHAI for its failure to remove encroachments along the National Highway and ignoring safety norms, the Permanent Lok Adalat of Kapurthala had on April 17 ordered the NHAI to not charge toll at Ladhowal plaza until it complied with the court orders issued on April 15.

Shift toll plaza or face protest: AAP

Barnala: AAP MLAs Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Pirmal Singh Dhaula, along with other party leaders, on Thursday announced to start a protest if the administration failed to stop the construction of a toll plaza near Jagjitpura village on the Barnala-Pakho Kanchiya road. They met the Barnala Deputy Commissioner and demanded its shifting to the Pakho-Moga road. He along with other party workers visited the toll plaza and warned the company employees to stop the construction work. “I have received their memorandum and directed the officials concerned for a detailed project report. We'll take action accordingly,” said Dharmpal Gupta, DC. TNS