Punjab government has made four roads toll free: Harbhajan Singh ETO

Chandigarh:
With the aim of giving relief to the common man, the Public Works Department (PWD) of Punjab has made four roads in the state free of toll for passengers. Along with this, 3571 km of link roads have been renovated and specially repaired across the state at a cost of Rs 509 crore.
Mentioning the achievements of one year of Punjab Government, Minister of Public Works of Punjab. Harbhajan Singh ETO said that Ludhiana-Malerkotla, Hoshiarpur-Tanda, High Level Bridge at Makhu, Balachore-Garshankar-Hoshiarpur roads have been made toll free for passengers. The contracts of these toll plazas have expired but the companies were making various arrangements to extend it. He said that keeping the interests of Punjabis at the forefront, the state government has decided to close these toll plazas with immediate effect. Apart from this, more such toll plazas will be closed in the coming days as the state government is already preparing a list of all such defaulters.
Attacking the old governments for putting additional burden on the people by mortgaging the roads of Punjab for their personal interests, he said that the AAP government of Punjab will take all possible steps to relieve the people from this burden.
Speaking about other such initiatives taken by the department, he said that during the financial year 2022-23, 215 primary health centers have been upgraded and 65 service centers have been converted into Aam Aadmi clinics. He further informed that under the special assistance scheme, the work of 166 km road section has been completed at a cost of Rs 86.70 crore. He said that 3571 km of road section has been completed at a cost of Rs 509 crore out of completed and ongoing works under link road projects.
Highlighting other pro-people projects, Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh said that time-bound works like renovation of schools, heritage gates and streets, four-lane roads and beautification by planting ornamental flowers have been completed for the G-20 meetings. . Apart from this, the repair and maintenance work of various government buildings, hospitals and public buildings in Amritsar has been done on a large scale. He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Rs 411 crore has been spent on ongoing and completed works in the state and 373 km of road sections have been renovated in villages.
S. Harbhajan Singh ETO said that work is underway on 28 HLBs/ROBs/RUBs at a cost of Rs 58.26 crore.
The Cabinet Minister added that the department has implemented an engineering and project management module for preparation and submission of bills for various works to improve overall functioning in an effective, efficient and transparent manner.