Chandigarh: Punjab local bodies department has decided to conduct a forensic audit to look into alleged financial irregularities in four cities to expose bungling in the tenure of the previous government. The exercise will begin with four key corporations and improvement trusts in the state.
Releasing vision documents for two key departments on Wednesday, local bodies and tourism minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said the state government has appointed Grand Thornton Ltd as an independent review and forensic audit agency to conduct a forensic audit of infrastructure work over the past 10 years. He said the move would instill a sense of accountability in the departments concerned.
"In the first phase, the audit will be done in big corporation cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Ludhiana and their improvement trusts besides three municipalities of Kharar, Zirakpur and Rajpura. It will be completed by September," he said.
Smart City project
Sidhu said Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar are covered under the smart city project, about which he met Union minister of state for urban development Hardeep Puri, who sanctioned Rs 350 crore for cities. The Punjab component in this would be Rs 50 crore. Long-term planning is being done to address the problem of clogged sewerage in cities and provision of clean drinking water to the urban population.
Film City
To make Punjab a favourable film shooting destination, Sidhu said a Film City would be set up in Punjab. He said this would also go a long way in ensuring increased avenues of employment and reviving areas neglected by the previous government.
Bus rapid transit systems (BRTS)
The minister said Rs 495 crore has been released for the BRTS project in Amritsar and three corridors within a 31-kilometre radius will come up this year. He also said a new advertisement policy is in the offing for self-sufficiency of local bodies and all-round development of cities. According to him, the policy will be implemented by April, 2018. He also said the previous policy of 2012 had many loopholes, which are being fixed.
Vision Plan for local bodies department:
Punjab New Municipal Advertisement Policy
Parking policy for Punjab's cities by April
Introduction of e-vehicles
Canal water to Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala
Using super suction machines to clear clogged sewerage
64 non-functional Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) to be made operational
Master plans of cities to be linked with GIS mapping
87% of urban population gets clean drinking water, which will be extended
Clean sewerage availed by 73% of the population to be extended
Stray cattle policy
Vision Plan for tourism department
550th Gurpurb of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019 to be observed on a large scale
Special programmes on centenary of Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 2019
Sufi Mela and Heritage Melas to be held in Patiala, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Bathinda and Military Literature Festival
Focus on Harvallabh Sangeet Sammelan, Hola Mohalla, Qila Raipur, Baba Sheikh Farid Aagman Purb and Shiv Batalvi festival and Babe Da Viah purb
