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After verdict, Ludhiana trust to take upCity Centre construction with company
With a local court accepting the vigilance report to close the Ludhiana City Centre case against chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and 35 other accused, the focus
With a local court accepting the vigilance report to close the Ludhiana City Centre case against chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and 35 other accused, the focus shifts to the future of the multi-crore project located in the town’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.
Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), which owns the prime land of 25.5 acres, is ready to initiate talks with the company, Today Homes and Infrastructure Private Limited.
“Though there is an arbitration case pending in the Delhi high court, too, we will initiate talks with the company on what can be done at the project site,” says LIT chairman Raman Balasubramanian.
He said the project was ahead of its time with a rooftop helipad, golf shooting range, moving walkways, shopping complex with multiplex, hotel, supermarket and offices, trade centre, food plaza, city museum, recreation centre, IT centre and health-care centre. A decade ago, the project was estimated at Rs 400 crore. The construction company had spent about Rs 150 crore when the case ran into the legal wrangle.
Balasubramanian said that the total project was expected to fetch around Rs 2,000 crore of which the LIT would have made a profit of Rs 600 crore, which could have been used to provide better amenities to the residents.
‘SAD TO BLAME’
He said that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had triggered the controversy in 2006-07 in the run-up to the assembly elections. Soon after coming to power, the case was put on the backburner. After nearly 15 years, the probe found nothing wrong. “Only the Badals benefited by stalling the project. Residents, particularly those living in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, paid a heavy price,” he said.
He said for two terms of the SAD-BJP government, no effort was made to defend the arbitration case and no government official appeared for the hearing despite repeated summons. “The scenario is such that the amount of fine that the arbitration court imposed has crossed Rs 1,100 crore,” the LIT chief said.
He said that instead of the state bearing the cost, the money should be recovered from people who stalled the project for their motive.
PROBLEM AREA
Residents of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar paid a premium amount to buy plots around the project site.
Arvind Sharma, a right to information activist and a resident of SBS Nagar, said the government conned residents who bought property in the area thinking it would be developed as a shopping destination. “Today, the abandoned site is infested with rodents and pests. Anti-social elements frequent the area,” he said.
Another resident, Perminder Singh, said that during monsoon, the road near the project caves in, posing a risk to commuters. Even during winter when visibility is low due to fog, the site becomes a dark stretch where accidents are common due to the dug-up area of the project.
When contacted, Today Homes and Infrastructure Private Limited officials declined to speak but their lawyer, Rupesh Sharma, said: “The further course of action will be decided after receiving the court’s order.”
