Staff, contractors feeling unsafe, may leave Delhi-Katra expressway project midway: NHAI

Blurb:

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has written to the Punjab government raising safety concerns about its officers and the staff of its contractors undertaking work in Ludhiana and Jalandhar for the construction of the Greenfield Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway.

In its communication to the Punjab chief secretary on August 5, the NHAI raised two instances and said that one of the employees of its contractor was brutally assaulted by some villagers in Jalandhar and the director of the contractor firm was threatened by two persons in Ludhiana. The NHAI is constructing the four-lane greenfield Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway from the junction with Ludhiana-Moga road near Mullanpur Dakha to the junction with Jalandhar-Moga road near Kang Sahibu village.

NHAI has said that various contractor companies have expressed their desire to leave the project midway.

“It is highlighted that contractors in the state of Punjab have not been feeling safe due to these repeated incidents and the contractors may leave the NH projects unfinished due to continuing law and order problems in the state of Punjab,” said the letter written by the NHAI’s regional officer in Chandigarh.

The NHAI urged the state chief secretary to direct the concerned officers to take necessary action for the safety of NHAI officers and contractor engineers and lodge an FIR against the miscreants.

Last month, an employee was assaulted when he was on duty for procuring borrow areas near village Fatehpur Nurmahal on July 20, according to NHAI’s another letter written to the Jalandhar deputy commissioner.

NHAI accused the Dhaka police of inaction despite complaints about the intimidation by Shri Balaji Trading Company, working for the contractor company MKC Infrastructure Limited, over a monetary dispute. Notably, the CCTV footage of the accused creating a disturbance at the contractor company’s office has also surfaced in the case.

The NHAI in its letter said that in Ludhiana the miscreants threatened to “burn the project camp and its staff alive.”

The EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor had terminated the work given to a local company because of their ‘unethical and unprofessional behaviour,” the letter added.

“This is submitted that necessary police protection is immediately required to be provided to the contractor, its staff and at the project camp to avoid any mishap and untoward incident. It is also requested to direct the concerned officers for the same and also direct the Police/ District Administration to lodge FIR against the guilty/miscreants and take action as per law,” the NHAI stated.

MKC Infrastructure Limited’s AGM (liaising), Brijesh Kumar, alleged that they have been facing law and order issues right from the start. “My company is working on different sections from Malerkotla to Gurdaspur district, but the prevailing conditions are making us consider leaving the project like other companies,” he said.

He claimed that their employees fear for their lives and mentioned that the company has completed about 50% of the work and should be provided security to complete the project.

Dakha police station SHO inspector KS Dhaliwal said that Sandeep Sharma and Manish Godara of Shri Balaji Trading Company had taken the contract to supply materials under the project. “They had a monetary dispute with the construction company. Both sides had an argument. The police have registered a case under Sections 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 351 (2) (criminal intimidation), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 191 (3) (rioting, being armed with a deadly weapon) and 190 (unlawful assembly in prosecution of the common object of that assembly) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS),” he said, adding that the police are investigating the matter.

Following the NHAI’s letter, chief secretary Anurag Verma on August 6 wrote to director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, asking him to lodge an FIR and take necessary action for the safety of NHAI officers and for the personnel of the contractors.

In its letter to the DGP, Verma said, “This is a very serious matter. You are requested to direct the officers concerned to lodge an FIR against the guilty/miscreants. You are also requested to direct the Officers concerned to take necessary action for the safety of NHAI officers and for the personnel of the contractors.”

WITH INPUTS from PTI