FAISALABAD, Nov 3: The district government has decided to impose toll tax on five main roads of the city through a notification.

Sources told this correspondent on Sunday that District Nazim Zahid Nazir had asked the legal branch of the district government to finalize the notification so that it could be enforced before calling the next meeting of the council. The notification will be subsequently presented in the district council for formal approval.

District Naib Nazim had called the three-day meeting of the council from Oct 29 for the approval of minutes of previous meeting and for grant of approval of imposing toll tax on Sargodha Road, Millat Road, Narwala Road, Jhang Road and Canal Road of Faisalabad. The meeting could not commence for want of quorum.

Sources said that District Nazim Zahid Nazir has been facing strong reaction from the opposition councillors for not implementing the agenda he announced during the elections of Nazimeen.

After failure to generate enough funds, he planned to impose various taxes through notifications.

Sources further claimed that huge funds of the district government were spent for achieving ‘favourable results’ in some constituencies during Oct 10 elections.

They further said that finance and budget department of the district government has been facing serious financial problems. The non-development expenditures have escalated and the federal and Punjab governments have yet to provide grant to the district government.

“The failure of the district government to evolve strategies for funds generation at its own is the main reason of the financial constraints,” sources claimed.

“The district government could not start a single mega developmental project during its over 14 months tenure. Almost all ongoing developmental schemes were either started about three years ago or by the previous provincial government,” they said.

A senior official of the district government told this correspondent that the district Nazim had constituted a seven-member special committee, comprising traders and elected representatives, to collect ‘donations’ from renowned industrialists for meeting ‘unofficial expenses.’