"Bhagwant's words are loud, but truth is none, He fooled many, while serving none": Union Minister S. Ravneet Singh
Ludhiana/ Chandigarh(The Uttam Hindu): In a strong statement targeting Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Union Minister S. Ravneet Singh said the AAP Government came to power on the back of tall promises, but failed miserably in fulfilling them. “This government has consistently misled the people of Punjab and has served no one,” he said.
Referring specifically to the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the Doraha ROB, Minister Singh debunked the Punjab Government’s claim that the NOC has already been issued. “This is a new low in dishonesty. The truth is the Punjab Government is still holding back the project for political reasons.”
To back his claim, Minister Singh shared a letter dated 25.06.2025 from the Executive Engineer, Construction, PWD Rupnagar, clearly stating that the Punjab Government has only conditionally signed the General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) for the ROB. The condition imposed is that Railways must obtain an NOC from PWD before starting execution. He said, “Despite this, the ruling party’s MLA is now presenting an old letter dated 11.11.2024, misrepresenting facts before the public.”
“It’s either a case of ignorance or deliberate misinformation. There’s been a long chain of official communication after that 2024 letter, and they are conveniently hiding it,” Singh added. “This is a clear case of cheap politics being played at the cost of public welfare.”
Highlighting the urgency of the matter, he stated that 190 trains pass through this ROB daily, along with over 3,000 vehicles. “The public continues to suffer, while the Punjab Government plays politics.”
The Railways Ministry is fully funding this ₹70.56 crore project, yet the Punjab Government, in alleged collusion with some officials, continues to withhold the necessary NOC. Minister Singh urged the Punjab Government to immediately issue the NOC for the sake of the people.
Giving the background of the above mentioned Railway Overbridge, S. Ravneet Singh said that this Level Crossing (LC) No. 164A at Km 353/35-354/01 is located between Doraha (DOA) and Sahnewal (SNL) stations on the Ambala (UMB)-Ludhiana (LDH) section in Ambala (UMB) Division of Northern Railway. In the census of July 2022, the train vehicular unit was approx 6 lacs so the ROB was proposed.
A Road Over Bridge (ROB) was being built on this LC by PWD, Punjab, based on approved GAD (General Administrative Drawing) dated 18.07.2014. PWD was executing this work through the concessionaire Atlanta Ropar Tollways Pvt. Ltd. Northern Railway Construction organization through Dy. CE/C/CDG office was overseeing the supervision of this work in Railway Land. However, this work was terminated by PWD on 05.08.2021.
Thereafter, considering the high TVU of around 6 lakhs, the work was sanctioned by Railway Board on 100 percent Railway cost amounting to Rs. 70.56 Crore vide letter dated 29.02.2024. Railway is executing the work on single entity. To avoid any contractual disputes at later stage, Railways wrote letters to PWD dated 18.09.2024 & 23.09.2024, for granting NOC and sharing available data of Doraha ROB, like GAD, Autocad Drawings, Toposheet, geotech report etc.
On 11.11.2024, PWD Punjab issued NOC letter to Railways, some of the terms and conditions of the NOC were not acceptable to Northern Railway like taking over the responsibility of court case/arbitration from previous agency etc.
A meeting was held in the conference hall of Punjab Secretariate in Chandigarh between CAO/C/RSP, along with Railway Representatives and Sh. Ravi Bhagat, Secretary, PWD along with PWD officials on 27.01.2025 to resolve the issue regarding the conditional NOC issued by PWD, Punjab, wherein it was decided that the Punjab Govt will re-look into the legal aspect of this issue.
A letter has been written to CE/PWD on 29.01.2025 deliberating on the discussions held in the 27.01.2025 meeting and it was again re-iterated to grant a clear cut NOC for execution of the work.
Again letter was shot off to CE south on 16-04-2025 requesting for NOC issuance.
The last letter issued by the Executive Engineer Const PWD Rupnagar to Deputy Chief engineer Road safety on dated 25-06-2025 regarding the approval of general arrangement drawing with subject to railways obtaining NOC from PWD before execution of the work.