Morinda-Kurali road to have toll plaza

MOHALI: Travelling to the MorindaKuraliSiswan road is going to be a costly affair with the Punjab Government all set to charge toll tax from vehicles crossing from the road that connects Punjab with Chandigarh and Baddi an industrial town of Himachal Pradesh

Updated At : 07:43 AM Jan 02, 2015 IST

<p>The underconstruction toll collection centre on the Morinda-Kurali-Siswan road. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan</p>

Bipin Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 1

Travelling to the Morinda-Kurali-Siswan road is going to be a costly affair with the Punjab Government all set to charge toll tax from vehicles crossing from the road that connects Punjab with Chandigarh and Baddi, an industrial town of Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-km road that connects Punjab with Baddi and Chandigarh is being constructed by a private company on design, build, operate and transfer basis. The project cost is Rs 71.11 crore and the firm will maintain the road for the next 18 years.

Sources in the department said the project was being executed by the company under the observation of the building and roads wing of the Punjab Public Works Department.

The government has not decided the toll charges to be imposed on vehicles crossing the road. The government will sign an agreement with the company on the toll charges before issuing a notification in this regard, sources in the department said.

With the four-laning of the road, heavy vehicles heading towards Baddi and Ludhiana industrial towns and on the reverse route will have to bear additional toll charges. The toll charges will also made the journey costlier for motorists heading towards Ropar from Chandigarh and Baddi.

The road is being used by long-route vehicles heading towards Baddi from Ludhiana, Ropar, Jalandhar, and Amritsar bypassing Kharar, Mohali and Chandigarh.

Suresh Kumar, Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), PWD (B and R), said starting from Morinda, the road passes through Dhangarli, Dhianpura, Kurali, Fatehgarh, Baroudi, Majri, Majra and Siswan.

Starting from Morinda a 7.4-km stretch of the road would be widened from 7 meters to 10 meters with 1 meter drain on both sides. The next 15-km stretch of the road would be four-laned with 7.25 meters wide lanes each side and with 1 meter wide drain on both sides while the next 3-km stretch would be widened by 7 metres to 10 metres with 1 meter wide drain on both sides, the SDO claimed.

“Two new bridges, parallel to the existing ones on the road, are also being constructed in Dosarna and Chandpur villages while the four existing major bridges will be rehabilitated,” Kumar said.