CHANDIGARH:Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has strongly supported the proposal of Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) to set up a solar power plant on the vacant land of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant Bathinda.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters, senior party leaders and MLAs Aman Arora, Prof. Baljinder Kaur, Meet Hair and Rupinder Kaur Ruby said that PEDA has taken a step in the right direction on the proposal of PSEV Engineers Association to set up a government solar power plant on hundreds of acres of land left vacant dumping ashes of Bathinda Thermal Plant. Now the ball is in the court of Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who are more inclined to demolish the Bathinda Thermal Plant and sell hundreds of acres of its land to their preferred land mafia at peanut rates.
The AAP MLAs said that just like Sukhbir Singh Badal & Co. during the previous government in collusion with the private power companies had ruined this thermal plant which was dedicated to Guru Nanak Dev ji and was the symbol of glory of Bathinda, Manpreet Singh Badal and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh have surpassed Sukhbir Badal by making every effort to demolish and sell the land of this thermal plant. This is one the reasons why the government rejected the offer made by the Board of Directors (BODs) of Bathinda Thermal Plant to run the plant on straw instead of demolishing its units, while the Union government had also agreed to provide financial assistance for the straw project.
The AAP leaders said that now when PEDA had shown interest in the proposal of the Engineers Association which had been neglected by the government for a long time, Amarinder Singh government should make every effort to implement the proposal.
The AAP leaders said that the people of Punjab would never forgive Raja Amarinder Singh and Manpreet Singh Badal if the government still insisted on demolishing the Bathinda thermal plant