AMRITSAR: MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla today held a press conference and targeted CM Bhagwant Mann for the stalled Delhi-Katra Expressway project. He said that despite having funds from the Central Government, the state government is not working seriously on this project, due to which this project is on the verge of closure.
MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla today informed that for the Delhi-Katra Expressway, either land is yet to be acquired at many places or the land acquired is yet to be occupied, but CM Bhagwant Mann is showing extreme negligence in this, due to which this project and other National Highway projects can be snatched away from Punjab and especially Amritsar.
MP Aujla said that till now an amount of Rs 749.67 crore is yet to be distributed to the landowners. This amount is to be given to the people in lieu of acquiring the land, while the government is yet to take possession of 33.82 km of land. There are many places where land has been acquired but payment is yet to be made. MP Aujla said that in this data, the work of land acquisition is pending in Tarn Taran to Mananwala, Rajewal to Ajnala, Amritsar to Ghumarvi, Rajewala to Ajnala via Khemkaran Sahib Road, Amritsar to Ramdas and Beas-Mehta-Batala and Dera Baba Nanak. He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was first busy in the Lok Sabha elections, then he was conducting by-elections, now he will again be busy in three by-elections and then he will be busy in elections in Haryana. In this time two years will pass and the central government will be forced to close the project. He said that the central government has still given only two months to the state government to complete the national highway projects but for this CM Bhagwant Mann will have to work seriously.
MP Aujla said that the Delhi-Katra Express Highway will give a boost to the industry of Amritsar. The industry of Amritsar depends on tourists, so if the journey to Delhi is reduced to just four hours, then tourists will come in lakhs but CM Mann has settled down in Jalandhar and has forgotten the Guru's city.
MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said that the government is not able to complete the projects for which the money is already lying in the treasury, what can be more pathetic than this in the condition of Punjab. He said that apart from this, Horticulture University Project in Amritsar given by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Patti Makhu Rail Link project are also pending and these are the projects in which the government has only to do work, the money has come from the centre but the land is not being acquired. MP Aujla said that if the state government still does not work seriously, then tourism, which is the backbone of Amritsar which is a border area, will suffer. That is why the government should work on these as soon as possible and give relief to the people.