Relocation of the Ravi Toll Plaza, also known as the Shahdara Toll Plaza, a gateway to Lahore, has hit snags despite Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani’s announcement to shift it to Kala Shah Kaku within a month in 2010, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Instead of the Punjab government, the Ravi Toll Plaza is situated on property of the federal government and the National Highway Authority (NHA) is its custodian. On demand of the Punjab government and even Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders to rid residents of Shahdara and Lahore from toll tax and frequent traffic jams at Ravi Toll Plaza, the PM ordered relocating it to Kala Shah Kaku around one year ago. President Asif Ali Zardari also issued instructions to the Federal Ministry of Communication and NHA to do the job forthwith. Except Lahoris, residents of Shahdara, were to be exempted from the toll tax. However, the relocation task was put on ice leaving in lurch both the residents of Lahore and Shahdara as well as all others who use the gateway of Lahore to enter and exit daily. The basic reason behind the demand is that the Ravi Toll Plaza is all the time a big traffic gridlock due to a number of police pickets established for security reasons. People have to often wait almost an hour or more to pass through the toll plaza. Given the perturbed situation, a rush of vehicles poured into another route inside Farrukabad and Saeed Park, as this route helps traffic to reach Ravi Bridge without passing through the Shahdara Toll Plaza. With the new development, both localities now face frequent traffic blockage and joined their voice in a long-standing demand for immediate relocation of the Ravi Toll Plaza.
PPP Punjab General Secretary and former MPA from this area Samiullah Khan told Pakistan Today that due to lack of will, the matter had plunged into limbo. “If the PM revives the issue by pushing the NHA to get his order implemented, the shifting can be done within two days,” he said. But, he said, in case the PM was unable to call the shots, it showed that writ of the government had hit rock bottom. “Being a former MPA from the Shahdara constituency, I feel that the issue is very sensitive and if the PPP could not make good its promise, it would damage its vote bank in the area,” Samiullah said.
PML-N MPA Rana Iqbal Khan from Shahdara said that the Punjab government could not do anything to provide any relief, as it was out of its jurisdiction and fell into the preview of the federal government. “We met then NHA chairman Chaudhry Altaf several times and forced him to shift the Ravi Toll Plaza to Kala Shah Kaku without any delay. But the issue was put on the backburner due to the lukewarm attitude of the federal government,” he added. The matter relating to relocation of the Ravi Toll Plaza at Shahdara (N-5) was also brought under consideration in the 208th Executive Board Meeting held at NHA Headquarters, which was chaired by NHA Chairman Syed Muhammad Ali Gardezi in October. But there was no progress in sight so far. There are three bridges on River Ravi. Sagian Bridge, Old Ravi Bridge and Shahdara Bridge. Every bridge has a toll plaza and now all of them have been declared as tax free for residents of Shahdara. Demand to shift the Ravi Toll Plaza arose since its construction in 1967 at cost of approximately Rs 50 million. In 2006, former Lahore nazim Mian Aamir Mehmood had also proposed exempting Shahdara residents from paying toll tax at Ravi Bridge. He forwarded the proposal to the provincial government for approval. But the move could not be materialised. The issue was noticed seriously when PML-N President Nawaz Sharif visited Shahdara in 2009. The issue got more strength when MNA Malik Riaz from NA-118 in a meeting held at Jahangir’s Tomb, which was attended by the chief secretary, commissioner and secretary C&W, pleaded the case before the authorities concerned. Sources revealed that then DCO Lahore Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta wrote a letter to the chairman NHA to facilitate the inhabitants of Shahdara by exempting them from toll tax at Ravi Bridge.
Then chief secretary Javed Mehmood constituted a committee to evolve a viable strategy to execute the exemption plan. The committee consisted of the commissioner Lahore, DCO, secretary C&W, chairman task force on roads, the NHA Chairman and others. Finally in January, 2010, President Asif Ali Zardari exempted Shahdara residents from payment of toll tax. Later, former Punjab governor Late Salmaan Taseer said that on directions of President Zardari, the toll plaza would be shifted outside the city at the earliest to save the people from inconvenience. In May, the PM again issued fresh orders of relocating the Ravi Toll Plaza. PPP ticket holder from NA-118 and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Syed Asif Hashmi said that he had sent the recommendation to the PM who termed it a very important issue and directed immediate action to relocate the toll plaza. He said that it was a long standing demand of the people of Shahdara, which falls in the NA-118 constituency, that the toll plaza was causing problems for them.
