Three years of Congress govt: Major projects in Patiala yet to see light of day

Even as major announcements were made regarding development works at the Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s home bastion over the last three years of

Even as major announcements were made regarding development works at the Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s home bastion over the last three years of Congress government in state, not even a single one of these projects has been materialised.

All major projects in district are hanging fire and are delayed for one or the other reason.

The pending projects include setting up of a solid waste management plant, canal-based water supply system, shifting of dairies to city outskirts, beautification of the Rajindra Lake and construction of a new inter-state bus terminal (ISBT).

Serious efforts are being made for execution and completion of these projects but there is hardly any progress on the ground level.

Deputy commissioner Kumar Amit said all the projects are big and require detailed technical discussions and planning before execution.

“Most of these projects are in the tendering stage. For instance, 31 acres have been acquired for the canal-based water supply project and tenders are being floated,” he said.

He added that the projects related to restoration of Rajindra Lake and setting up of a heritage street in Patiala are also on.

“The development works have already been started on site of the Rajindra Lake,” he said.

STATUS REPORT OF THE PROJECTS

Solid waste management plant: Soon after coming to power, the Punjab local bodies department had scrapped tenders completed by the former SAD-BJP government and decided to restart the project. The department raised questions on the finalised tenders as a lone bidder, a firm with no experience of setting up such a plant, was allotted work. However, the MC has already indentified 20 acre for the project at Dudhar village, 20km from Patiala. The failure of Punjab government and MC in setting up of the project resulted in the CM’s home town being among the dirtiest cities. In 2018, the state mooted the project with the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA)-Patiala cluster. The cost was pegged at ₹305 crore, but nothing has been done so far. As per the detail project report, the SWMP has been divided into two parts — compost and refuse-derived fuel, and sanitary landfill facility. The main plant will be set up at Samgauli village in Mohali, while the RDF and SLF are designed to be set up in Patiala.

Shifting of dairies: Even after completing all formalities, the MC has failed to go ahead with dairy shifting. Despite seeking applications from dairy owners, the civic body has failed to start allotment of plots. Under the policy framed, all farm owners operating within city have to shift to a 21-acre site at Ablowal village, where plots will be allotted at government-controlled rates. In the first phase, as many as 120 dairies will be relocated and their owners will be provided land for ₹3,500 per square yard. Patiala mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu said that the deadline for the first phase is June 30 this year. “The MC General House has given its green signal for providing rebate in loan interests to the dairy owners. Since it is for public welfare, we are making every effort to expedite work under the project and rehabilitating dairy farms,” he said.

Rajindra Lake revival plans: After fighting a legal battle over four years, the administration floated tenders for revival of Rajindra Lake in February this year. DC Kumar Amit said the PWD and drainage department are looking after the project. The project had been hanging fire for nine months due to legal and technical hurdles. The lake is dry at the moment. 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 to stop restoration initiated by the then SAD-BJP government of Punjab. Malvinder had contended that the MC’s Rajindra Lake restoration project will destroy the lake’s heritage appeal. 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.

ISBT project: The much hyped new inter-state bus terminal (ISBT)-cum-commercial complex project has been hanging fire since the past 14 years. The announcement for its construction was first made back in 2005 by the then chief minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh. The new ISBT will be constructed on a 6.25 acre land at the cost of ₹52.34 crore. The Congress government has assigned the task of the project’s planning and execution to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB). The tenders for the project were floated in October last year but it has failed to materialise so far due to lack of bidders. The district administration has already identified 8.5 acre land belonging to the Patiala Improvement Trust (PIT) on the Patiala-Rajpura road, near the Urban Estate for this project. Instead of spending money on purchasing the land from the PIT, the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) has bartered the land with the PIT.