Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria chairs a review meeting with senior officials of the National Highway Authority, Railways, Airport Authority and BSNL to review the progress report of various ongoing Central development projects, at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh on August 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Days after Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari raised with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the issue surrounding the safety of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) staff amid concern over “prevailing law and order situation”, the newly-appointed Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Monday (August 12, 2024) held a review meeting with senior officials of the NHAI and others here to review the progress of various ongoing central projects in Punjab.
Mr. Kataria directed the officials, including those from Railways, Airport Authority and Bharat Sancha Nigam Limited, to ensure the completion of all the central projects without delay. He said that if there is any problem in the implementation of any project, it should be brought to the notice immediately in writing so that such issues can be resolved on a priority basis with the help of the Central and State governments.
He said there should be a meeting every three months to review the progress report of all the Central projects, and the officials should inform him in writing about the progress of all the projects from time to time, said an official statement.
In his letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Gadkari wrote “…due to pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law and order conditions, a number of contractors-concessionaires have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against NHAI. The NHAI has already terminated three projects in Punjab with a total length of 104 km and costing ₹3,263 crore. If the situation does not improve, NHAI will have no other option but to cancel-terminate eight other severely affected projects with a total length of 293 km costing ₹14,288 crore..”
