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Crawling projects to be completed by year end: Ludhiana MP Bittu
The MP took note of the worsening traffic situation in Ludhiana, owing to the delay in the completion of these projects, including the construction of elevated road
Noting that various projects, including construction of elevated road, pending in the city have mounted the traffic woes of city residents, Member of parliament Ravneet Bittu on Monday assured people that the delayed projects under the ‘Ludhiana Smart City’ mission will be completed by year end.
Bittu took stock of various projects under the ‘Ludhiana Smart City’ mission and chaired a meeting with senior officials of municipal corporation in which all city MLAs were also present.
After the meeting, Bittu said that projects which are hanging fire and have led to worsening of traffic situation in the city will be complete by year end.
“Projects such as the construction of elevated road, Rail Over Bridge (ROB) project on the Pakhowal Road, repair of focal point roads, roads on the southern bypass will be complete by year end,” he said.
Seven years after Ludhiana made it to the list of first 20 cities in the country to be developed as smart city, leaving behind Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Amritsar, a number of major projects falling under the ambit of Smart City Mission are still crawling with residents of the city facing inconvenience due to traffic related issues.
Ludhiana ranks 38 in the list of 100 cities under the Smart City Mission. While MC officials claimed that 89.74% of funds received from both the state and Centre under the Smart City Mission have been utilised, major projects like installation of additional 9,000 LED streetlights and construction of ROB on Pakhowal Road are still awaiting completion and have become an eye sore for the residents.
Issue of pending 9,000 LED street lights to be installed at various traffic junctions under the Smart City Project came up for major discussion as these lights are awaiting installation for a long time.
Bittu reprimanded the private company entrusted with the project and said it be served a notice for failure to install these additional lights and not executing the maintenance of the project properly.
The approval for these additional lights has only recently been received. A total of 1.05 lakh LED streetlights have been installed under the project.
High drama was witnessed over the pending ROB and RUB project on the Pakhowal road as Bittu said residents and shopkeepers are suffering a lot due to the delay in its completion.
Both projects were supposed to be completed by August 31, 2021.
A RUB that connects MC’s Zone D office road in Sarabha Nagar with Pakhowal Road and Ishmeet Singh Road was opened for traffic movement last year. But, ROB and RUB on Pakhowal Road are not yet ready.
The ROB/RUB project on Pakhowal road is being executed by Deepak Builders. The work for this project was first issued on June 18, 2019 but has missed several deadlines. After Bittu inquired about the project, the MP was informed that the revised approval from the committee of chief engineers was received on March 14 and work has been started accordingly after that and will be completed very soon.
Other projects which are still pending under the Smart City Mission include installation of chain link fencing along the 14 kilometre stretch of Buddah Nullah, construction and demolition of waste management plant, installation of compactors, development of table tennis complex at Rakh Bagh, upgradation of Leisure Valley near MC Zone D office, bioremediation of legacy waste at Jamalpur dump, setting up of vending zones in zone D and also implementation of surveillance infrastructure at Court complex, DC office and Associated Areas.
High drama over Buddah Nullah rejuvenation project
Inaugurated in January 2021, the ₹650 crore project for rejuvenation of Buddah Nullah launched by the previous Congress government has hit a roadblock owing to rampant encroachments and continuous dumping of waste in the water body by the residents.
Bittu stated that a notice be served to the sewerage board and the Punjab Pollution Control Board in this regard and he will soon be chairing a meeting to take stock of the exact status of the project.
“The officials of the PPCB and the sewerage board are answerable and they will be served a notice. Encroachments have mushroomed and dumping of waste goes on unabated at the Nullah. I will be holding a review meeting in this regard with the officials very soon,” Bittu said.
