Amphibious Bus Bought for 'Harike Cruise' to Be Auctioned

Chandigarh, Jul 4 (PTI) In a bid to minimise loss incurred on former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal's dream project 'Harike Cruise' worth Rs 8.62 crore, the Punjab government has decided to auction the amphibious bus, Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said today.

Describing the project as "ill-conceived", Sidhu said the project was run in Harike wetland in Tarn Taran for just 10 days, leading to meagre earning of Rs 70,000 to the state exchequer, which worked out to be just 5 per cent of the project cost.

Accusing Sukhbir of not following any rule and conducting feasibility of the project, Sidhu said former deputy CM, just to fulfill his wish, launched the project and caused "financial loss" to the state exchequer.

"A sum of Rs 8.62 crore was spent on this project and it ran for just 10 days that led to earning of Rs 70,000," Sidhu told reporters here.

"I have ordered the auction of amphibious bus. We will try to recover as much money as we can through the auction of this bus," Sidhu said, adding that the suitable place for the auction of this bus could be Goa.

The 'Harike Cruise' project was launched with much fanfare in December 2016 where tourists were to give ride in the amphibious bus in Harike lake.

The bus was bought at a cost of Rs 4.52 crore and a sum of Rs 87 lakh was spent on the construction of ramp in the Harike lake.

Sidhu had scrapped this project last year after the Congress government came to power.

"You cannot run this bus in the presence of migratory birds," Sidhu said, adding that the Harike lake was suitable for just pedal boating.

Sidhu announced his decision of auctioning the bus after receiving an audit report highlighting that no feasibility of the project was done before the launch.

"No rule was followed, there was no DPR and no feasibility of this project," he claimed.

Targeting Sukhbir, Sidhu asked had it ever happened that the buses of Badal family suffered any loss.

"But the previous government did not even bother to conduct feasibility of this project," said Sidhu.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)