LAHORE  -  A meeting presided over by Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Akhtar Zaman accorded approval to authorize the enforcement staff of the Punjab Highways Police (PHP) for unloaded excess weight from the freight vehicles. The meeting, held at the Civil Secretariat on Tuesday, reviewed progress on axle load management system and discussed a proposal to increase the fine amount up to Rs 50,000 for violation of axle load rules. The chief secretary asked the relevant authorities to take immediate and concrete measures to save roads from damage and include new roads in the excel load management regime. The chief secretary said that roads were a valuable national asset, and their protection from dilapidation would be ensured. He said that with the help of the Punjab Highway Police, axle load rules had been implemented on 17 major highways across the province. He said that roads built at the cost of billions of rupees were damaged due to non-implementation of axle load rules in the past. He mentioned that more powers would be assigned to the Punjab Highway Police for effective implementation of the axle load management regime. Officials of the Transport Department gave a detailed briefing at the meeting. They said that the axle load management regime was being successfully implemented on 1700 km of highways in the province and permanent weigh stations had been established at nine places for checking freight vehicles.

They said that there had been a clear reduction in violations due to the implementation of axle load rules.

The secretaries of the relevant departments, chairman PITB, officials of Punjab Highway Police participated in the meeting while commissioners participated through video link.