National High Authority (NHA) should halt collecting toll charges on roads damaged by recent countrywide flooding, according to a recommendation from the Standing Committee on Communications.
The committee was briefed on the effects of the flood on the roads and highways. A network of 48 roadways totaling 14,480 kilometres in length, comprising 13 motorways, 32 highways, and three key routes, was also included in the brief.
The road system in Sindh and Balochistan has been completely destroyed, according to NHA officials. Additionally, a sizable stretch of the Indus Highway in Sindh is submerged.
The committee members questioned NHA’s choice to keep levying toll fees on certain highways. In order to provide the public with “some convenience,” Member National Assembly (MNA) instructed NHA to “no longer collect tolls” from them.
The committee asked the NHA to stop collecting tolls in areas where there had been floods and road damage. NHA representatives told the committee that they would take the proposal for temporary toll-free travel in the flooded regions under consideration.
The Indus Highway between Karachi and Larkana has been permanently stopped by NHA owing to flooding in several areas.
According to NHA sources, there is 3 feet of water on the highway close to the toll plazas at Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah, and Sehwan. Since the agency does not know when the floodwater will recede, the route has been blocked indefinitely.
Over 5,000 kilometres of countrywide highways have been damaged by floods and excessive rain, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
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