Punjab second lowest performer under Bharatmala Pariyojana

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, December 26

With land acquisition continuing to remain a politico-socio issue, the Central Government’s much-touted Bharatmala Pariyojana project in the state has remained in a limbo.

With farmers in different parts of the state protesting against acquisition of land and also against the compensation awarded for the same, only 25.30 per cent of the roads to be constructed under the project have been completed so far, making the state the lowest performer in the completion of the project, second only to Kerala.

Over 56 per cent of the project (across the country) has been completed till date, with maximum work having been completed in Goa, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Data provided by the Central Government to the Lok Sabha, in reply to a question on the status of the project, shows that of the 1,764 km of roads under the project to be constructed in Punjab, work on only 393 km has been completed. Land acquisition awards have been made for 1,553 km.

Land is being acquired for two major national expressways — Delhi-Katra Expressway and Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway — which will pass through Punjab. These are being constructed under the Bharatmala project. Land is being acquired in 15 districts of the state for these projects.

The issue has been often flagged by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) with the state Public Works Department, and even taken up by the top functionaries of the state for discussions with both PWD and NHAI authorities. However, with farmers protesting against giving away their land, in many cases after the compensation has been awarded, the construction work has remained halted for many months now.

Kerala at the bottom of the list

In Kerala too, only 22.45 per cent construction work under the project has been completed, making the southern state the worst performer under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Farmers being looted

The land of farmers is being looted in the name of national projects and the government is not giving adequate compensation. The expressways are designed in such a way that these are cutting the lands through the centre, due to which more land will become useless for farmers. Expressways will also be elevated, increasing the risk of flooding. — Sukhdev Dhillon, chief, sadak kisan sangharsh committee