Expressing serious concern over the recent incidents involving attacks on engineers and contractors associated with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Jalandhar and Ludhiana, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday wrote to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
What did Gadkari say?
His letter to the CM cited two incidents which occurred recently on the Delhi-Katra Expressway projects. According to the union minister, in one incident in Jalandhar District, the Engineer was brutally assaulted while in the other incident in Ludhiana, the project camp of the Delhi-Katra Expressway was attacked by miscreants where the engineers were also threatened of burning the project camp and their staff alive.
While stressing that immediate actions are needed to restore confidence among the NHAI employees, Gadkari in his letter also said that, "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."
What did Punjab Police say?
Commenting on the recent incidents, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sukhchain Singh Gill asserted that the situation is under control and that the matter is being closely monitored by the chief minister.
Furthermore, it has also been told that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate the incidents, and FIRs have already been registered.
