District Public Relations Office, Patiala, December 30: Despitefighting Covid, Royal City Patiala continued to move ahead in development worksthis year. Thanks to the special effortsof the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Member of Parliament, Mrs.Preneet Kaur, Patiala has became the headquarter of two more Universities ( Jagat Guru Nanak Dev PunjabState Open University and Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Punjab Sports University)this year and has been successful in bringing development as well as heritageprojects of the city to its destination.
According to Deputy Commissioner Kumar Amit, Covid's strike,which started in last week of March, though initially derailed the developmentprojects once and for all, but the Health, Civil and Police administrations ofPatiala had managed to curb it. Infact,by adopting measures to stop further spread of COVID, we also tried to givefull attention to the welfare of the people by rescheduling the developmentworks, added Mr Amit.
He said that the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh andLok Sabha Member Mrs. Preneet Kaur kept a close eye on the ongoing campaignagainst COVID in Patiala and also reviewed the development works of Patialaonline as well, which made us able to set the pace of development to continue.
According to the Deputy Commissioner, the projects initiatedto preserve the royal and heritage look of Patiala, the revival of RajindraLake and the maintenance of the historic Barandri have almost been completed.Rajindra Tank (Lake) has returned to normalcy after nearly a decade and a halfand the open gym, lighting, walkways and other activities have been improved atBarandri Bagh. Both the projects havecost about Rs 584 lakh.
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Similarly construction of another important heritage projectof the city, Heritage Street was also started by the Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh in October this year. The project with a budget of about Rs. 43crore is underway.
The Surface (Canal based) Drinking Water Supply project forPatiala city, which is worth Rs.503 crore has also been successfully startedthis year. The completion of thisproject, which has been designed keeping in view the potable water needs of thecity for the next three decades, would be of great benefit to the people of thecity.
Apart from the aforesaid project, the plan to solve theproblem of huge dump piles on Sanour Road in the city, was also implementedthis year at a cost of Rs 6 crore. Theproject is also underway, which has led to a solution to the years-long problemof garbage disposal.
Plans to move the dairies out of the city and to relocateRagho Majra's Rehri Market to another place to reduce the chaos in the city arealmost near completion.
The plan to take the city bus stand out of the congestionwas also implemented this year and the laying of its foundation stone on theRajpura Bypass by the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh paved the way forits speedy construction.
Apart from this by adding further, Deputy Commissioner Mr.Kumar Amit said that beautification work of Chhoti and Badi Nadi has also beenundertaken. The Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh had announced a grant of Rs. 208 crore for the completion ofthis project. Under this, a 26 MLDcapacity STP to be constructed at Ghalori Gate. There will be a check dambetween the two rivers as well as a 3.45 km cycling track.
Similarly, the problem of storm water sewage being faced bythe city residents has also been resolved as the covering of Eastern Drain andchannelisation of Jacob Drain is near completion at the cost of Rs 6.89 and Rs.5 Crore respectively.
Disclosing futrher, more projects, Deputy Commissioner Mr.Kumar Amit said that the special program launched by the Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh emphasizing on conservation of environment and cleanliness ofcities under the second phase of Urban Environment Improvement Program (UEIP),new works worth Rs. 79 crore have been undertaken in the urban areas and townsof the district whereas under its first phase works worth Rs. 30 crore hadalready been completed. The scheme covers sewerage, solid waste disposal, watersupply, rainwater harvesting, street drainage, road works etc.
He further said that similarly under Smart Village Campaign,development works have been carried out in all the villages of the districtunder the first phase at a cost of Rs. 43.51 Crore while under the second phase developmentworks worth Rs. 121 crore have been started. Apart from this, an amount Rs 45.26 crore has also been released by the15th Finance Commission for Swachh Bharat Mission, infrastructure upgradationof water supply, schools, parks, street drains, ponds and other developmentworks in the villages.