CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s Congress government is in a catch-22 situation on the amphibious water-bus project, which was launched in the Harike wetland near Amritsar by the then Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, as it wants to scrap the project but is unable to do so as the project is a public-private partnership (PPP).
In July this year Punjab Tourism and Culture Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had announced to auction the amphibious bus launched by Sukhbir. “Sukhbir’s dream project of amphibious bus has turned out to be the worst nightmare for Punjab. The project was ill-conceived and was a wastage of public exchequer. It caused a loss of Rs 8.62 crore to the State as the bus operated only for 10 days earning a meagre Rs 70,600. I have decided to start pedal boats in the wetland, which is practical and cheap,” Sidhu said then.
Now, it seems that the water bus cannot be auctioned.
Sidhu seems to have forgotten it was not a government project but a PPP. Four months have passed after Sidhu’s announcement but till date the project has not been scrapped as the private company which was involved in the project is reportedly unwilling to abandon it. Now legal advice is being taken in this regard.
A senior state government functionary said, “As a private company is also involved in this project one cannot shut the project easily. The government has sought advice from the office of Advocate General so that there is no legal hurdle once the government takes a final call to scrap the project”
The water-bus project had costed the state government over `8.42 crore. The bus was to be run by the state tourism department and visitors to the wetland were to be taken on a joy-ride of four-kilometre ride both in water and on land.
The project was inaugurated by Sukhbir Singh Badal in December 2016 just months before the Assembly elections. Since then, the project has drawn flak especially on social media platforms. Initially, its inauguration had been postponed as the water level in the lake was not sufficient.
Sanjeev Aggarwal, managing director of Krishna Tour Company which was given contract of the project by Punjab tourism department under public-private partnership (PPP), said, “It has been more than a year that we were told by the state government not to run the project. Since then it stands closed. We have written many letters to the tourism department saying that we are bearing monthly operational costs, but they have not replied till date.”