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NEW DELHI: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Thursday directed officials to issue a notice to a contractor and withhold payments after detecting irregularities in the construction of the Reetkheri Link Road in Patiala district. During a surprise inspection of the under-construction road, the chief minister noted that the project did not meet the stipulated weight parameters following a sampling test. He instructed officers to formally notify the contractor and suspend payments immediately. Mann also inspected ongoing work on Patiala-Sirhind Road in Patiala district and the Rurki-Reona Plan road in Fatehgarh Sahib district, asking that samples from these roads be tested in a laboratory. Mann said that random checks are being conducted to verify that construction materials and processes meet required standards. He also urged the public to monitor ongoing road works and report any irregularities, assuring strict action against contractors found to be violating standards.The chief minister further said that the Flying Squad is actively overseeing road quality, and following multiple complaints about substandard materials, contracts for certain contractors have been terminated. The state government has targeted the construction of 44,920 km of roads across Punjab by the end of next year, with an estimated cost of Rs 16,209 crore.