Punjab’s former Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal on Thursday asked the state Tourism Minister Navjot Sidhu to follow a positive agenda for the holistic development of tourism in Punjab and develop infrastructure and facilities to give it a further boost instead of dismantling projects in the name of viability.
“The amphibious bus project which had been scrapped by Navjot Sidhu was not my project but that of the people of the State. It ran for 10 days because it was stopped by you simply because I started it,” he said.
Asserting that tourism projects were not established on the basis of viability, Sukhbir said if that was the case, Sidhu should have checked the viability of Jang-e-Azadi memorial while releasing Rs 25 crore for the project which was established by Parkash Singh Badal.
“As much as Rs 200 crore was spent by the SAD-BJP government on the Heritage Walk leading to Sri Darbar Sahib. Should we charge people for using this road nowIJ” By the same logic, Sidhu should study the viability of Mohali and Bathinda airports established by the SAD-BJP government and scrap them. He should also study if releasing money for sewerage and water supply is viable,” quipped Sukhbir.
Justifying his decision to start amphibious bus project, Sukhbir said that it had opened up the wetland to tourists for the first time. “Instead of encouraging it and letting it come into its own, Sidhu has scrapped the unique project and wants to introduce 50-year-old facilities like paddle boats now,” he said adding that it was risky to introduce paddle boats in a river.
“The bus was introduced at Harike following international tourism trends but Sidhu, in his hatred for all projects initiated by the Badal family, has stymied all chances of Harike emerging on the world tourism map,” he said.
SAD president requested Sidhu to eschew his negative agenda and focus on building more tourism infrastructure and facilities in Punjab instead of dismantling them.