Chandigarh, July 12, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today demanded chief minister Bhagwant Mann resolve all pending issues related to construction of national highways by awarding compensation for land acquisition to farmers as per their demands as well as making a case for review of termination orders of three highway projects worth Rs 3,303 crore and reviving four other projects worth Rs 4,942 crore which were slated for termination.
Expressing shock at the unprecedented termination of three national highways and initiation of the process to scrap four more by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the SAD president said “such an unprecedented action has never occurred in the history of the State.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann is solely responsible for this state of affairs. He has refused to meet agitating farmers demanding a fair price for acquisition of their land and has even inordinately delayed the declaration of compensation and disbursement of awards to farmers”.
Asking the chief minister to get into action immediately, Mr Badal said “the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should tell Punjab why it has come in the way of development of the State by keeping disbursement of as much as Rs 3,700 crores pending and not announcing awards for 845 hectares of land”.
Mr Badal also asked the chief minister to learn from former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who had given a compensation of Rs 1.93 crore per acre to farmers for land acquired for the Southern bypass in Patiala in 2016.
“Now after a span of more than seven years the AAP government is offering farmers a base rate of only Rs 30 lakh per acre for the Northern byepass”. He said every effort should be taken to do justice to farmers who were demanding a base rate of Rs 2.88 crore per acre for 300 acres for the Northern bypass.
“The situation is the same in other parts of the State also with the AAP government offering peanuts to farmers which has endangered extremely important highway projects which are inextricably linked with the development of the State”.
The SAD president asked the chief minister to stop all propaganda exercises and review the situation and ensure time bound awards and release of money to farmers as per their demands.
“The chief minister should also make an immediate case for review of the termination orders of three projects and ensure four other projects whose termination had been initiated are revived”.
Asserting that quality highways were the key to development of a landlocked State, Mr Badal told the chief minister – “the erstwhile SAD government had made highway development a number one priority and had successfully developed projects worth Rs 30,000 crore. You should build on this legacy instead of negating it with your actions”, he advised. EOM
