Patiala MC House gives not to pending development projects

The Patiala municipal corporation (MC) took key decisions related to development of the Royal City, besides paving way for vital projects that are in limbo since past one decade in its House meeting on Thursday.

The decisions include passing resolutions to revive the solid waste management plan; final approval for layout plan of dairy project; acquiring area under optimum utilisation of vacant government land for creating parking spaces; upgrade of the existing traffic management system; and relaying of heart-line roads worth ₹17.87 crore.

The general House has also passed the resolutions to go ahead with cleanliness projects, including door-to-door collection of garbage and installation of semi-underground bins across city.

In the two-hour long meeting, MC commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira and mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu discussed the development projects in detail, before passing resolutions regarding the same.

“Most projects are the ones that we had promised during the local bodies elections. These will usher new development era of Patiala and will help in defining it as a model urban local body (ULB) across Punjab,” mayor Bittu said.

MC commissioner Khaira said that all these projects have been planned in a way that the Patiala MC will not reel under any financial burden. “We have designed and discussed the projects in detail so that technical glitches, if any, can be dealt with at an early stage,” Khaira said.

Revival of solid waste management project

After the Punjab local bodies department scrapped the solid waste management project (SWMP) last year, the state has mooted the project with the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA)-Patiala cluster. The cost is pegged at ₹305 crore.

As per the detail project report (DPR), the SWMP has been divided into two parts — compost and refuse-derived fuel (RDF), and Sanitary Landfill Facility (SLF). These will be set up in Patiala, for which, the MC has already indentified a 20-acre land at Dudhar village, 20km from here.

The main plant, however, will be set up at Samgauli village in Mohali. The project was originally mooted back in 2010. Khaira said that the project is at an early stage and is being dealt at the state-level. “We need to complete the formalities including passing a resolution for the project,” Khaira said.

“The project is the need of the hour. For over 50 years now,  waste in the city is being dumped in the open at the dumping ground on Sanaur road,” he added.

Final approval for dairy shifting layout

The House has also given its final nod for layout plan of the dairy project at Ablowal village. Mayor Bittu said that the project includes setting up of a common facility, a biogas plant, a sewage treatment plant and a veterinary hospital, so that the entire dairy operation can be streamlined.

Khaira said that the project has already been approved by the state government and now the final approval of the House will help in coming up with a policy for rehabilitation of dairies.

Its been almost 14 years since the project was announced, including allotment of tenders worth ₹6 crore to a private construction company.

Overhaul of traffic mgmt system

Upgrade of the existing traffic management system, with latest wireless and censor-based access vehicle actuated technology, worth ₹1.40 crore has also been passed. Bittu said that the present traffic light system has outlived its life and needs to be replaced with modern infrastructure.

“Under the project, censor-based lights and new CCTV cameras will be installed. This will assist the traffic police in keeping a tab on the defaulters,” he said.

In yet another decision, the Patiala MC is going to utilise the land belonging to other public departments under its jurisdiction to create parking spaces, under the optimum utilisation of vacant government land (OUVGL) scheme.

The MC has passed a resolution to come up with parking lots near the MC office, the government printing press, Division Number 2, Chandni Chowk and Mid Town Plaza by seeking permissions from the departments concerned.

Other decisions include formulating an adoption policy for stray dogs and cattle; constituting a think-tank advisory body for chalking out development and beautification strategies for Patiala; amendment in the city’s master plan; and extending boundaries of the Patiala MC.