Minister Tarunpreet Singh : The claims about restarting the Jal Bus project are all rumors.
Punjab’s Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond, has clarified that there is no proposal to restart the Jal bus service at present. He addressed media reports claiming that the Punjab government plans to relaunch the Jal bus, currently parked at Harike in Ranjit Sagar Lake, and dismissed them as false and baseless rumors.
Minister Tarunpreet Singh criticized previous governments for spending around Rs. 8.63 crore on the Jal bus project, describing it as a poor decision that unnecessarily burdened the people of Punjab financially. He referred to the Jal bus as a symbol of corruption and mentioned that it is under investigation. He further pointed out that the bus is unfit for operation, and if relaunched, it could potentially lead to a major accident.
Minister Tarunpreet Singh assured that under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the government would not make any decisions that could negatively impact the lives or finances of the people of Punjab. He urged the public to disregard any media reports claiming the Jal bus would be restarted, emphasizing that the current government is focused on the welfare and development of the people.
Minister Tarunpreet Singh also highlighted that the Jal bus was a loss-making project, with previous governments spending crores from the state treasury while its revenue barely reached thousands. He reiterated that the Jal bus is completely unfit for operation and will not be relaunched under any circumstances. Sond concluded by labeling the Jal bus as a “super fail” project, resulting from poor decisions by past governments that wasted public funds, which could have been used for welfare initiatives.