Tarn Taran central jail project in a limbo

TARN TARAN: A much hyped project by the former Shiromani Akali Dal and Bhartiya Janata Party combine (SAD-BJP), the construction of central jail (Kendriya Sudhar Ghar) at Goindwal Sahib, has been halted for more than one and a half year as the public works department (PWD) is still waiting for the required funds from the government to make payments.

The department had started construction of the jail on December 12, 2013. The work was to complete on June 6, 2015. But owing to “government’s apathy,” the work failed to meet the deadline, and has been in limbo since February 2016, as the contractors stopped working after not receiving the pending payments.

As per information, the former SAD-BJP government had sanctioned ₹153 crore for the work and the PWD had hired Sunil Hi-tech Company for its completion. The hired company had allocated the work to small contractors, said the sources.

“A ray of hope emerged when the Congress government came to power, but now, we are hopeless as the state government is itself suffering from fund crunch,” said an officer, on condition of anonymity.

“We have been writing to the head office in this regard. As soon as we receive the required funds, the work will be resumed,” said executive engineer Sukhbir Singh. He added that around 60% of the work has already been completed.

Harikrishan Arora, a social worker, said that the jail site has now become a safe haven for the criminals and drug addicts of the region.

“Miscreants have been stealing iron rods and other material from the contraction site,” he said.

“Sunil Hi Tech Company is responsible to take care of the security arrangements at the construction site,” said executive engineer Sukhbir Singh.