‘Attacks’ on NHAI officials in Punjab: FIRs lodged, perpetrators arrested, says chief secy
Punjab governor and chief secretary met with NHAI and other officials to discuss project progress. This follows Nitin Gadkari's threat to cancel highway projects due to law and order issues.
Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria and chief secretary Anurag Verma held separate meetings with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) here on Monday.
While Kataria simultaneously also met officials of railways, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to review the progress of various ongoing projects in Punjab, Verma held an exclusive meeting with NHAI officials, deputy commissioners and senior officials of PWD department.
The development comes two days after Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, in a strongly worded letter to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, wrote that NHAI would have no option but to cancel eight highway projects in Punjab with a total length of 293 km and costing ₹14,288 crore if the law and order situation in the state does not improve.
In his letter, Gadkari cited two incidents which occurred recently on the Delhi-Katra Expressway. In one incident in Jalandhar, an engineer of a contractor was brutally assaulted and in another incident in Ludhiana, the project camp of the expressway contractor was attacked, the Union minister said.
Due to the pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law and order situation in the state, a number of contractors have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against the NHAI. Gadkari further wrote that NHAI has already terminated three projects in Punjab with a total length of 104 km and costing ₹23,263 crore.
Verma, after the meeting, said that directions have been issued to deputy commissioners to speed up the land acquisition process.
“We have given directions to deputy commissioners to speed up the land acquisition process and submit periodic progress to my office. As far as incidents of violence are concerned, FIRs have been registered. The perpetrators have been booked and arrested,” the chief secretary added.
Meanwhile, the governor directed the officials to complete all the central projects without any delay. “If there is any problem/issue in the implementation of any project, it should be informed immediately in writing so that such issues can be resolved on a priority basis with the help of the central and state governments, Kataria said.
The governor further said that a meeting will be held every three months to get the progress report of all the central projects.
The governor discussed the issue of heavy traffic in Chandigarh, replying to this, the NHAI officials said that the construction of National Highways connecting Panchkula to Shimla and Majri to Baddi will minimise this problem to a great extent.