Even after seven months since the decision was taken to revive two lakes of Patiala, Rajindra Lake on Mall Road and Sheesh Mahal Lake, the district administration is yet to start work on the project. Presently, both the lakes have dried up.
A senior official, pleading anonymity, said that the administration needs to design rejuvenation plan for both the lakes in such a way that the heritage status of both lakes remains intact.
In December 2016, Malvinder Singh, a scion of the erstwhile Patiala’s royal family, had filed a civil writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) to stop the restoration work initiated by the then Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government.
He had claimed that the municipal corporation’s (MC) Rajindra Lake restoration move will destroy its heritage value.
DPR PREPARED
Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu said that they have already prepared a detail project report (DPR) and have designed modalities to initiate the project.
{{/usCountry}}Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu said that they have already prepared a detail project report (DPR) and have designed modalities to initiate the project.
{{/usCountry}}“Since it is one of the major projects of the district, the administration does not want to get the work done it in any haste,” he said.
He added that under the restoration plan, Hansali project has been prepared with an expenditure of ₹40 lakh.
Hansali is a rainy nullah feeding the sarovars (water bodies) of Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib and Gurdwara Moti Bagh Sahib, from Bhakhra mainline and was constructed through kar sewa. It will now be extended to the gardens and lakes in Patiala.
No-objection certificate (NOC) has already been received by the district administration from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in this effect.
Moreover, a separate regulatory gate has been installed in the small water tributary on Nabha Road, which extends from the Bhakhra mainline, after which, the capacity and volume of water going to Hansali has increased by 2.5 cusecs.
LEGAL HURDLES
On July 22, 2016, former deputy chief minister (CM) Sukhbir Singh Badal had formally inaugurated the restoration work of the Rajindra Lake.
As per the layout plan, besides the 2km concrete pathway around the lake, it was proposed to construct a new entrance gate, install musical fountains, make sitting arrangements, a tensile structure for a food court and an amphitheatre.
But after the civil writ petition filed in the high court by Malvinder Singh the court had ordered to treat the petition as a representation, following which the then municipal commissioner Gurpal Singh Chahal, had passed speaking orders, recommending to drop the plan of constructing the 2km-long pathway inside the lake’s boundary.
A sum of ₹41.6 lakh, spent on the revival and beautification of the lake, has gone down the drain as the municipal corporation lost the project to legal hitches.