Bittu, Ashu to inaugurate same project again after a year
TNN | Mar 2, 2019, 07:27 ISTLudhiana: Almost a year after chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh laid the foundation stone for the project to develop Malhar Road as a ‘smart road’ under the Smart City Mission, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu and MLA from West constituency Bharat Bhushan Ashu would again be inaugurating the project on Saturday.
The CM had laid the foundation stone on March 11 last year for developing Malhar Road as a smart road. The officials began the process of floating tenders later, and it was only after floating the tenders thrice that they could find a company for the project. Then, it took almost a year for them to complete the procedure. The road will now be developed by undergrounding all utilities, including high tension wires.
Taking a dig at Congress leaders, Akali leaders maintained that having failed to do work on the ground earlier, the Congress leaders were now in a rush to showcase and take credit for works in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
According to officials under the project, smart utilities, shared pathways for cyclists and pedestrians, regulated parking, and other smart concepts would be developed on the road. There will be improvement of infrastructure, introduction of a utility corridor under footpaths, efficient use of space, adequate streetscape elements such as street lights, route and parking signage, garbage bins, bus shelters, public toilets, etc.
However, with the beginning of this work, traffic congestion is likely to rise further at Ferozepur Road, adding to the burden of the area’s residents. Work on the elevated road project from Samrala Chowk to octroi post on Ferozepur Road is already ongoing, due to which Ferozepur road remains jammed most of the time. Now, when Malhar Road work too has kicked off, the problem will increase for commuters, because it may take almost one-and-a-half years for the project to complete.
Maharaj Nagar resident Rahul Sharma said: “Already, there is a traffic problem on Ferozepur Road — especially near the chowk leading to Malhar Road — and now when this work has begun, there will be more problem for residents.” He said authorities should have waited for the completion of the elevated road project before starting this project.
MC additional commissioner Sanyam Aggarwal — who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL) — said: “Work has been started by the company after the design was approved. This project will be completed in 18 months, and it will be a major project for the city under the Smart City Mission.”
Regarding increase in traffic congestion, he added that whenever a new work begins, there is bound to be some inconvenience for people. Senior officials said Bittu and Ashu would kick off the work for retrofitting of Sarabha Nagar market and upgradation of Malhar Road as a smart road on Saturday. The total estimated cost of this combined project is around Rs38.62 crore.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) district president Ranjit Dhillon commented: “It has become a habit among Congress leaders to inaugurate old projects again and again, just to take credit ahead of elections. The leaders should avoid such repeated inaugurations, and instead push for development work on the ground.”
When asked what was the need to inaugurate the project again, Congress MP Bittu denied that the inauguration had anything to do with the credit game, as being claimed by opposition leaders. “The inauguration has nothing to do with elections or publicity. It’s just that we want to start these works before imposition of the code of conduct, so that the work does not get affected. It would only be beneficial for residents,” said Bittu. Meanwhile, Ashu was not available for comments.
BOX
SMART CITY MISSION PROJECTS
CM Captain Amarinder Singh on March 11 last year had laid foundation stones for five projects under the Smart City Mission. These five projects included retrofitting and beautification of Sarabha Nagar market, development of Malhar Road as a smart road, 24x7 water supply in ABD area, stormwater system in ABD area, and augmentation of the existing sewerage system in ABD area. All these five projects were among the most ambitious projects of the Smart City Mission, and on the basis of these projects, the city was ranked among the first top 20 smart cities of the country.
The CM had laid the foundation stone on March 11 last year for developing Malhar Road as a smart road. The officials began the process of floating tenders later, and it was only after floating the tenders thrice that they could find a company for the project. Then, it took almost a year for them to complete the procedure. The road will now be developed by undergrounding all utilities, including high tension wires.
Taking a dig at Congress leaders, Akali leaders maintained that having failed to do work on the ground earlier, the Congress leaders were now in a rush to showcase and take credit for works in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
According to officials under the project, smart utilities, shared pathways for cyclists and pedestrians, regulated parking, and other smart concepts would be developed on the road. There will be improvement of infrastructure, introduction of a utility corridor under footpaths, efficient use of space, adequate streetscape elements such as street lights, route and parking signage, garbage bins, bus shelters, public toilets, etc.
However, with the beginning of this work, traffic congestion is likely to rise further at Ferozepur Road, adding to the burden of the area’s residents. Work on the elevated road project from Samrala Chowk to octroi post on Ferozepur Road is already ongoing, due to which Ferozepur road remains jammed most of the time. Now, when Malhar Road work too has kicked off, the problem will increase for commuters, because it may take almost one-and-a-half years for the project to complete.
Maharaj Nagar resident Rahul Sharma said: “Already, there is a traffic problem on Ferozepur Road — especially near the chowk leading to Malhar Road — and now when this work has begun, there will be more problem for residents.” He said authorities should have waited for the completion of the elevated road project before starting this project.
MC additional commissioner Sanyam Aggarwal — who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL) — said: “Work has been started by the company after the design was approved. This project will be completed in 18 months, and it will be a major project for the city under the Smart City Mission.”
Regarding increase in traffic congestion, he added that whenever a new work begins, there is bound to be some inconvenience for people. Senior officials said Bittu and Ashu would kick off the work for retrofitting of Sarabha Nagar market and upgradation of Malhar Road as a smart road on Saturday. The total estimated cost of this combined project is around Rs38.62 crore.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) district president Ranjit Dhillon commented: “It has become a habit among Congress leaders to inaugurate old projects again and again, just to take credit ahead of elections. The leaders should avoid such repeated inaugurations, and instead push for development work on the ground.”
When asked what was the need to inaugurate the project again, Congress MP Bittu denied that the inauguration had anything to do with the credit game, as being claimed by opposition leaders. “The inauguration has nothing to do with elections or publicity. It’s just that we want to start these works before imposition of the code of conduct, so that the work does not get affected. It would only be beneficial for residents,” said Bittu. Meanwhile, Ashu was not available for comments.
BOX
SMART CITY MISSION PROJECTS
CM Captain Amarinder Singh on March 11 last year had laid foundation stones for five projects under the Smart City Mission. These five projects included retrofitting and beautification of Sarabha Nagar market, development of Malhar Road as a smart road, 24x7 water supply in ABD area, stormwater system in ABD area, and augmentation of the existing sewerage system in ABD area. All these five projects were among the most ambitious projects of the Smart City Mission, and on the basis of these projects, the city was ranked among the first top 20 smart cities of the country.
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