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Patiala: Tenders floated for restoration of city lakes
The project had been hanging fire for nine months due to legal and technical hurdles
Bottlenecks hampering the revival of Rajindra Lake and Sheesh Mahal Lake have at last been removed and the administration has floated tenders for the projects.
The project had been hanging fire for nine months due to legal and technical hurdles. Both lakes are dry at the moment. Deputy commissioner Kumar Amit on Monday said the state government had given the go ahead to the project and that tenders will be awarded soon.
“The project has been designed so as to rejuvenate both lakes in such a way that the heritage status of both lakes remains intact,” he said.
In December 2016, Malvinder Singh, a scion of the Patiala’s erstwhile royal family, had filed a civil writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) to stop restoration initiated by the then Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party led state government.
Singh had contended that the municipal corporation’s (MC’s) Rajindra Lake restoration project will destroy the lakes’ heritage appeal.
DPR already PREPARED
Amit said the administration had already prepared a detailed project report (DPR) and had designed modalities for execution of the project.
“Under the restoration plan, a budget of ₹40 lakh has been approved for the Hansali project,” he said. Hansali is a seasonal nullah, which feeds the water bodies in Gurudwara Shri Dukhniwaran Sahib and Gurdwara Moti Bagh Sahib through the Bhakhra mainline. It was constructed through kar sewa. The nullah will now be extended to the gardens and lakes in Patiala.
The district administration has already received a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to this effect.
A separate regulatory gate has been installed on a 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.
Hurdles overcome
On July 22, 2016, former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had formally inaugurated restoration of Rajindra Lake.
As per the plan, a 2-km concrete pathway was to be built around the lake, along with a new entrance gate, musical fountains, sitting arrangements, food court and an amphitheatre.
After the civil writ petition was filed in the high court, the court had ordered that the petition be treated as a representation, following which the then municipal commissioner Gurpal Singh Chahal, had recommended that the plan of building the 2 pathway inside the lake’s boundary be dropped.
Around ₹41.6 lakh that was to be spent on revival and beautification of the lake went to naught as the municipal corporation lost the project due to legal hitches.
