Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has issued a stark warning to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, threatening to cancel eight major highway projects totaling 293 km and worth ₹14,288 crore if law and order in the state does not improve. The warning follows recent incidents involving attacks on engineers and contractors.
In a letter dated August 9, Gadkari detailed two troubling incidents related to the Delhi-Katra Expressway project. In Jalandhar district, a contractor’s engineer was brutally assaulted, and while an FIR has been filed, Gadkari emphasized the need for more decisive action. Another incident in Ludhiana saw miscreants attacking the contractor’s project camp and threatening to burn the camp and its staff alive. Despite written requests from NHAI officials, no FIR has been registered, and the perpetrators remain at large.
Gadkari warned that if these issues are not addressed, NHAI will have no choice but to terminate the eight affected projects. He noted that cancelling even one project could jeopardize the entire corridor. Photos of the assault were included in the communication to the Chief Minister.
This warning follows recent directives from Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma, who instructed the state police chief to file an FIR against those threatening the contractors and NHAI officials working on the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. The expressway project extends from the Ludhiana-Moga road junction near Mullanpur Dakha to the Jalandhar-Moga road junction near Kang Sahibu village.
