Gadkari warns Punjab govt of terminating highway projects, cites attacks on NHAI staff: 'No other option'

Gadkari warned the Punjab government that NHAI will have no other option but to cancel/terminate eight other severely affected projects.

Published on: Aug 10, 2024, 16:00:35 IST

By HT News Desk

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Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has written to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, expressing serious concerns over recent attacks on engineers and contractors associated with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

Union road and transport minister Nitin Gadkari (File Photo)

The minister said that he had been informed about two incidents which occurred recently on the Delhi-Katra Expressway projects, adding, “In one incident in Jalandhar District, the Engineer of the Contractor was brutally assaulted.”

He cited another incident in Ludhiana district, where the project camp of the contractor of Delhi-Katra Expressway was attacked by miscreants and also threatened engineers of burning the project camp and their staff alive.

Gadkari urged the Punjab government to take immediate corrective measures, including the registration of FIRs and strict action against those responsible for the attacks.

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The Union minister stressed that such steps are necessary to restore confidence among NHAI officers and the staff of concessionaires working on various highway projects.

"It is pertinent to note that due to pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law & order conditions, concessionaires have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against NHAI. If the situation does not improve, NHAI will have no other option but to cancel/terminate 8 other severely affected projects with a total length of 293 km costing ₹14,288 crore," Gadkari warned.

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Punjab Police responds

Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sukhchain Singh Gill assured that the situation is under control and that the matter is being closely monitored by the chief minister. Gill said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate the incidents, and FIRs have already been registered.

"It is under CM review. We have constituted an SIT on it and FIR has been registered. The law and order situation is under control. There were two such incidents and we will look for security if needed by NHAI," Gill told reporters.

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