Punjab CM shuts down three toll plazas

Hoshiarpur, Feb 15 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday announced shutting down three toll plazas, which, he said, were allowed to operate by the connivance of the Akali-BJP alliance and Congress to loot the public.

Interacting with the media after closing three toll plazas at Majari (SBS Nagar), Nangal Shaheedan, and Mangarh (Hoshiarpur), he said with the closing of these toll plazas, a daily sum of Rs 10.52 lakh of the public will be saved.

Mann said these toll plazas should have been closed around 10 years back as their term had expired but instead of closing them the previous governments connived with them to mint the money illegally.

He said it is unfortunate that politic of the state backstabbed the people for their vested interests.

The Chief Minister said the previous governments of SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress didn't bother about the interests of the people and looted the state exchequer.

He said this is evident from the fact that the PWD ministers, including Congress' Partap Singh Bajwa (now Leader of Opposition) and Akali Dal's Parminder Singh Dhindsa along with Sukhbir Singh Badal, plundered the public money mercilessly.

The Chief Minister dared these leaders to explain why they had ditched the people of state for their personal interests.

He said under this project of Rs 123.64 crore, the Rajdeep Tollways company had to constructed a 104.96-km-long road, the agreement for which was inked by Bajwa on December 6, 2005.

Mann said the Capt Amarinder government extended largesse of Rs 49.45 crore in form of subsidy to the company out of the total project cost.

The Chief Minister said the company had operated all three toll plazas on March 6, 2007, before the formation of a new government. He said the company had to complete the project of laying bitumen on road by March 5, 2013 which was accomplished on April 30, 2015 with a delay of 786 days.

He said for this delay, the company could have been charged a fine of Rs 61.60 crore, but instead of recovering this, the SAD-BJP alliance government, "in a treacherous move", waived it off.