Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria reviews progress of central projects
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 12
Governor Gulab Chand Kataria today held a meeting with senior officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Railways, Airports Authority of India and the BSNL to review the progress of ongoing central projects in the state.
The meeting held amid Centre’s threat to scrap highway projects over delay in land acquisition has raised eyebrows in the top echelons of the state government. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also called a meeting (on August 16) with farmer leaders from Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran districts to sort out land acquisition issues for the construction of highways.
The Governor directed officials to complete all central projects without any delay. He said if there was any problem/issue in the implementation of any project, it should be brought on record in writing so that such issues could be resolved on priority with the help of the Centre and the state government.
He said a meeting would be held every three months to get the progress report of all central projects. Apart from that, he should be informed in writing about the progress of all projects from time to time.
The Governor also discussed the issue of heavy traffic in Chandigarh. Replying on the issue, NHAI officials said the construction of national highways connecting Panchkula to Shimla and Majri to Baddi would minimise the problem to a great extent. Governor Kataria is also the Administrator of Chandigarh.
During the meeting, the Governor said, “Udaipur, Chandigarh and Jammu are important from the tourism point of view, so a proposal should be prepared to run the Jammu-Tawi train on daily basis.”
During the meeting, officials of the Airports Authority of India shared information about the proposed road connecting Chandigarh to the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport. They said the construction of the road would reduce the distance from Chandigarh to that airport by 10 km.
BSNL officials also informed the Governor about their ongoing projects.
Others present at the meeting included Additional Chief Secretary to Governor K Siva Prasad; DRM Railways, Ambala, MS Bhatia; DRM Railways, Ferozepur, Sanjay Sahu; CGM, BSNL, Punjab, Ajay Kumar; Regional Officer, NHAI, Bipanesh Sharma; and CEO, CHIAL, Ajay Verma.
