The Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today issued directions to Public Works Department to provide service lanes along with all National & State highways in the state.Presiding over a meeting to review road projects in the state Badal said that provision of service lanes has to be made mandatory and we should ensure that there was no direct entry to the highways. He said that Punjab government has already chalked out a Rs.13000 crore plan to link all major cities with 4/6 lane roads and it was imperative for NHAI and PWD to maintain rigorous safety standards for these highways and avoid any direct access to the highways.Expressing concern over high rise buildings touching national highways especially in the vicinity of Chandigarh, Patiala and Ludhiana, Badal asked PWD to ensure that all roads were planned this way that there should be a sufficient distance between building blocks and highways.Asking PWD department to give all contracts linked with 5 year maintenance, Badal said that Punjab has to emerge as best state in the country with world class road and air connectivity and while selecting firms for avoiding road contracts we must ensure adherence to strict quality control and any compromise would not be tolerated.
Prominent amongst those who participated in the meeting included N.K. Sharma, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Industries & Commerce, S.K. Sandhu, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister & Secretary Urban Development, P.S. Aujla, Principal Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister, Manvesh Singh Sidhu & A.K. Mahajan, Special Principal Secretaries to Deputy Chief Minister.