Public funds: Entrance is ‘free’: PML-N vehicles and others skip toll

NHA official says they turned a blind eye fearing mob violence.

LAHORE:

Hundreds of PML-N workers from other cities entered Lahore to participate in the PML-N rally on Friday without paying the toll at Ravi Bridge.

PML-N workers from Gujranwala, Muridke, Sheikhupura, Gujrat, Sialkot and Hafizabad entered in Lahore through Shahdara by crossing the Ravi Bridge. The National Highway Authority (NHA) officials deputed at Ravi Bridge didn’t ask any vehicle carrying PML-N banners and workers to pay the toll tax. Following in the footsteps of PML-N workers, many other vehicles also skipped paying the tax.

Several PML-N workers were present at the toll plaza all day with a list of the vehicles scheduled to bring PML-N supporters from outside the city.

“We are here to facilitate the participants of the rally coming from other cities,” said a PML-N worker at the Bridge, who refused to identify himself.

An NHA official said that on average 22,000 vehicles enter the city using the Bridge every day. The toll for a car is Rs25, the tariff goes up to Rs500 for large vehicles.

“We don’t have to pay the toll ourselves. When a vehicle is rented it is customary for those who hire it to pay the toll,” said Younas, who was driving a van carrying PML-N workers from Hafizabad. He said they hadn’t paid at the toll plaza on GT Road near Kamoke either.

Around 150 vehicles carrying PML-N workers crossed the Ravi Bridge on Friday. Hundreds of vehicles following the PML-N vehicles also ignored the toll staff, an NHA official at the toll plaza said.

A senior NHA official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said “NHA officials were not asking for the tax because the vehicles were coming in the form of convoys. On such occasions, there is a risk of people turning violent and damaging public property.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2011.