As MC polls near, F&CC gives nod to projects worth ₹500cr

Ludhiana: With MC elections around the corner, the finance and contracts committee (F&CC) of the Ludhiana municipal corporation on Saturday gave nod to development projects worth more than Rs 500 crore.
The F&CC members gave preference to works to be done under various schemes of Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL), National Clean Air Programme, World Bank, Swachh Bharat Mission for which funds are already available with the civic body.
But regarding works to be done through MC funds, the officials were told to clear orders only for those projects which are too important and cannot be ignored at the moment.
Interestingly, these many projects won’t make it to the completion stage in the present tenure of MC house. The officials briefed the F&CC about the second phase of bioremediation project that will cost around Rs 100 crore for which tenders are already floated and work will be allocated after finalising the firm.
The F&CC gave nod to implementation of adaptive traffic control system in 42 important junctions of the city at a cost of Rs 9.86 crore.
Members gave approval to installation of an MRF plant to treat 500 tonnes of dry waste, bio-CNG plant to dispose of 200 tonnes of wet waste, installation of CCTV cameras in various locations of Ludhiana East constituency, trenchless rehabilitation of existing trunk storm water drains, trenchless rehabilitation of existing trunk sewer system on Panj Peer road and PAU road and a security surveillance system at Ludhiana courts complex. There were more than 400 resolutions in the meeting and most of them were given approval.
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “We took up resolutions category wise and those works to be carried out under different schemes were given nod. From MC funds, projects which are very important will be taken up for now. The councillor quota work orders will be issued on a priority basis.”
Meanwhile, a lot of councillors visited the mayor camp office on Saturday where the F&CC meeting took place. Till last moment, they kept sending their resolutions for the approval. The councillors were seen requesting the mayor for approving the resolutions from their respective wards.
Works proposed under Smart City transferred to MC
Remaining works which were initially proposed under Ludhiana Smart City Limited have been transferred to the MC and its funding will come from LSCL. Now even the construction and demolition waste plant project will be handled by the MC.