CHANDIGARH: NHAI raised safety concerns of staff in Punjab ahead of PM Modi’s review of national highway projects, due to rise in cases of assault and threats.
The National Highways Authority of India has written an urgent letter expressing concern over the safety of its staff and contractors working in Punjab as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to take a review of pending national highway projects in Punjab and other states on August 28. Tensions have mounted in the backdrop of a series of recent incidents of physical assaults and threatening behaviour against NHAI employees and contractors working for them, forcing some concessionaires to think of withdrawing from the ongoing projects in the state.
The situation has taken a particularly volatile turn in Ludhiana, where protests against land acquisition for the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway—a major NHAI initiative—have escalated. The protesters have threatened to set the project camps on fire, furthering this already daunting environment for all those involved with the construction process. The threats of violence and arson sent shock waves of fear among NHAI officials and the contractors working under increasingly dangerous conditions.
In view of these developments, Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma has issued urgent instructions to Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, to take immediate and stringent action for the protection of NHAI officials and contractors. Verma said in a letter, “The situation is critical, and the police should promptly file FIRs against the threatening letters and ensure the security of all those engaged with the highway works.”
The direction by the chief secretary has come following a detailed letter by NHAI Regional Officer, Vipnesh Sharma, who has also documented a number of alarming incidents. Among them is the July 20 attack on a contractor’s employee in Jalandhar, where villagers were allegedly responsible for the assault. He further stated that threats of violence were issued to a contractor’s director and project manager in Ludhiana, warning them that their project camps and staff would be set ablaze.
Vipnesh Sharma, the NHAI Regional Officer, wrote to CS Verma that the contractors and officials in charge of the four-lane greenfield Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway from Junction with Ludhiana-Moga Road (NH 5) near Mullanpur Dakha to Junction with Jalandhar Moga Road (NH 703) near Kang Sahib village were being threatened. Sharma took up the matter with Verma on Tuesday after the contractors complained to NHAI officials.
The safety concerns have also triggered a larger crisis in law and order in the state as national highway projects face mounting resistance and violence. NHAI has expressed its exasperation and concern and warned the state government that its contractors may be forced to abandon projects unless immediate and effective security measures are put in place. The letter from NHAI to the state government lists numerous incidents of threats and physical assault, even death threats to contractors, and has sought urgent intervention to ensure the safety and security of all persons associated with these projects.
NHAI has also asked the state government to make full-scale arrangements for the protection of officers, contractors, and labourers involved in the construction of the national highways. NHAI has stressed the urgency for immediate and strong action, for these threats and delays are proving to be a bane for the development of key infrastructure.
Investigations will follow and officials have assured that people found responsible for such threats and acts of violence would be taken to task without any dillydallying.