Panjab Farmers Oppose Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway

In the last decade under the BJP, India has witnessed record road construction. Distances have shrunk though all highways and expressways charge a high toll tax, mostly serving car owners and goods transport companies. One such project is the 669-kilometer Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway being built at a cost of $5B. 137 kilometers of the expressway falls in Haryana, 399 km in Panjab, 135 km in Jammu and Kashmir. In Panjab, the expressway will pass through industrial areas in Patiala, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, and Gurdaspur. Farmers in the Gurdaspur belt have been opposing the expressway over inadequate compensation for land acquired. In June at least 126 petitioners contended that their residential houses as well as certain other structures are being demolished without any supplementary award being passed for compensation. The Panjab and Haryana High Court denied them interim relief to stop the acquisition of land. Recently, the National Highway Authorities of India complained to the Panjab and Haryana High Court that Panjab officers were not cooperating over land acquisition. The Panjab CM assured full cooperation to the project. On 19 Oct, Union minister Nitin Gadkari inspected the Panjab leg of the highway. Panjab CM and Amritsar MP Gurjeet Aujla accompanied the minister. Gadkari claimed, ‘The highway will reduce travel time between Delhi and Amritsar to four hours and Delhi to Katra to six hours.’ This is an unrealistic claim. Nevertheless, a rationalization of costs of roads in India for ordinary commuters is much needed.