CS orders making axle load management system effective

LAHORE:Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman on Monday directed the transport department to make the axle load management system more effective in the province.

Chief secretary gave this directive while presiding over a meeting at the Civil Secretariat. The meeting decided that the toll tax on all roads would be collected online to ensure transparency. He said that axle load management was being successfully implemented on 1,700 kilometers of highways in the province and permanent weigh stations had been established at nine places in the province for checking freight vehicles. He said that as per law, action was being taken against vehicles for overloading.

The chief secretary said that roads built at a cost of billions of rupees were damaged due to non-implementation of axle load laws, adding that accidents and damage to roads can be avoided through axle load management. He lauded Secretary Transport Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi and PITB Chairman Faisal Yusuf for their efforts in the successful implementation of axle load management system. He said that instead of constructing new roads, priority was given to the repair and reconstruction of 133 inter-district roads and work on 104 roads would be completed soon.

Transport secretary gave a detailed briefing at the meeting. He said that signboards regarding the weight limit for freight vehicles were installed at the entrances of all the districts. He said that with the assistance of National Highways and Motorway Police, Punjab Highways Police, axle load rules were implemented on 17 important corridors.

The administrative secretaries of different departments, including law, communications and works, officials of Punjab Highways Police and officers concerned attended the meeting while all divisional commissioners participated through a video link.