Nitin Gadkari warns of termination of highway projects over Punjab’s ‘prevailing law and order’

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari warns Punjab Chief Minister of terminating highway projects due to safety concerns and law and order issues.

Expressing concern over the “prevailing law and order situation” in Punjab, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has cautioned Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann that eight severely affected highway projects in the State, costing approximately ₹14,288 crore, would be terminated “if the situation does not improve”.

Raising safety concerns on behalf of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officers, contractors, and their staff, in a letter to the Punjab Chief Minister dated August 9, Mr. Gadkari said he had come to know of two untoward incidents that occurred recently on the Delhi-Katra expressway projects.

The NHAI is developing greenfield and brownfield national highway corridors, including the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway in Punjab.

Mr. Gadkari in his letter spoke of the incidents in Jalandhar and Ludhiana districts. “In one incident in Jalandhar District, the Engineer of the Contractor was assaulted. Although FIR has been registered in this regard, strong action is required to be taken against the perpetrators. In another incident in Ludhiana District, the Project camp of the Contractor of Delhi-Katra Expressway was attacked by miscreants who also threatened the Engineers to burn the project camp and their staff alive. However, FIR has still not been filed and the miscreants have not been arrested despite written request by NHAI officers,” the Minister wrote.

Mr. Gadkari added that, during a recent meeting on national highway projects in Punjab, it was assured that pending issues related to law and order, and land acquisition, would be resolved on priority. “However, it has been brought to my notice that no progress has been made in this regard and the situation has further worsened,” the letter said.

Mr. Gadkari, urging the Punjab Chief Minister’s intervention wrote, “...due to pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law and order conditions, a number of contractors-concessionaires have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against NHAI. NHAI has already terminated three projects in Punjab with a total length of 104 km and costing Rs. 3,263 crore. If the situation does not improve, NHAI will have no other option but to cancel-terminate eight other severely affected projects with a total length of 293 km costing Rs. 14,288 crore.”

Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said that Punjab’s law and order had spiralled out of control.