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Smart City Mission: BJP seeks probe into disbursement of funds by Ludhiana MC
With the authorities making tall claims regarding the development of Malhar road and Sarabha Nagar main market under the Smart City Mission, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sought an inquiry,citing alleged ill-planned development and corrupt practices adopted by the Municipal Corporation
With the authorities making tall claims regarding the development of the Malhar road and the Sarabha Nagar main market under the Smart City Mission, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sought an inquiry into alleged ill-planned development and corrupt practices adopted by the Municipal Corporation (MC).
Bikram Sidhu, BJP state executive member, has demanded that a proper inquiry needs to be conducted regarding the disbursement of funds and the work done at the ground level. Further, he also urged the civic body to resolve the problems being faced by commuters on the Malhar road due to traffic congestion.
He said the authorities claimed to have spent over 38 crores on the project to transform the Malhar road into a smart road and retrofitting the Sarabha Nagar main market, but nothing concrete had been done at the ground level rather than installing interlocking tiles at large. Earlier, the authorities said the market would have multi-storey parking, but that component has also been dropped.
Sidhu said despite spending ₹24 crore on the Malhar road, the width of one of the busiest roads of the city had been reduced from 120 ft to around 50 ft due to which traffic snarls were witnessed in the area. Further, the unplanned tabletops (speed breakers) established at certain points are resulting in accidents.
Other BJP leaders, including Sidhu, had also submitted a memorandum regarding the alleged discrepancies with secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs, Durga Shanker Mishra during his visit to the city in September.
Pardeep Sabharwal, MC commissioner, said proper monitoring of development projects was being done to keep a check on the quality of work being taken up. The project to transform the Malhar road into a smart road was still underway and would be completed soon. Secretary, MoHUA, Mishra had also appreciated the projects being taken up by MC under the Smart City Mission.
