The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) reminded Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu that the tourism infrastructure of the State was “not for the Government to make money”, but for “creating wealth for the public” and establishing an atmosphere for investments.
“This of course will be difficult for you to understand”, SAD MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said, adding, “Your myopic thinking revolves around earning money only. You are used to earning money by the minute in your comedy circus show and therefore can not think that even State money can be used for public good.”
Stating that Sidhu’s vision for Punjab and its rich history and culture could be seen from his statement calling the iconic Virasat e Khalsa a ‘white elephant’, he said Sidhu seemed to have used the same logic to deride the amphibious bus project launched by the SAD -BJP Government at Harike Pattan wetlands in 2016
Dhindsa said it was to the credit of the SAD-BJP Government that it decided to develop Harike Pattan as a tourism centre. “The Government took the initiative to develop a site of land alongside the wetland and make it a base for operating an amphibious bus which takes tourists right down to the wetland by traversing a few kilometer stretch of jungle interspersed with watchtowers for bird viewing. This facility has brought Harike Pattan into the international tourism circuit as it is only 13 km from Amritsar.” The amphibious bus tour starts from Amritsar.
The Akali leader said it was strange that Sidhu was trying to deride the bus project instead of running it and simultaneously announcing that he would visit Harike Pattan to explore its development as a tourism destination. “Are you really so daft or are you deliberately trying to befool people the. Was not the process to develop the area as a tourism centre already started under SAD-BJP tenureIJ Why do not you admit this fact and then try to contribute something instead of trying to earn money from tourism projects despite the world wide convention of building infrastructure at tourism sites to generate wealth for the local economy .”