Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday laid the foundation stones for five infrastructural projects, worth Rs 127.86 crores, in Amritsar, while announcing an additional Rs 50 crore for tubewells to ensure seamless supply of clean water pending the completion of the canal water supply network in the holy city.
The Chief Minister also announced a slew of tourism development projects, totalling Rs 187.47 crores, for the upgradation of Amritsar, to showcase it as a global tourism destination.
The Chief Minister pressed the button to lay the foundation stone, by remote, of two Railway Over Bridges (RoBs), one Railway under Bridge (RUB) and a flyover besides, extension of existing Bhandari Bridge. The inauguration took place in the presence of Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, whom Capt Amarinder credited with facilitating the necessary permissions from the Railways Ministry.
The projects, said the Chief Minister, would go a long way in boosting the infrastructure of the old town and reducing traffic congesting.
Further noting that big cities like Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala were facing acute water problems, the Chief Minister said that with water levels receding, water received by these regions was becoming unfit for drinking, leading to spread of diseases.
Announcing his government’s decision to provide canal water to these four cities, the Chief Minister underlined the need for regular and thorough testing of water.
Speaking on the occasion, Sidhu lashed out at the Badals for failing to develop the city during their 10-year rule. The Akalis had built only one bridge in 10 years while the Capt Amarinder government had started work on five, he said, adding that tenders were being issued for these projects and work on them will be completed within a year.
Underscoring the need to tap Amritsar’s tourism potential, Capt Amarinder said that several iconic tourism projects, worth Rs 37.46 crores were in progress, while another Rs 110.01 crore worth of projects were in the pipeline including Rs eight crore for VR/light and sound show at Jallianwala Bagh, for which the Central Government’s NoC was awaited.
“The Tourism and Culture Department had received tenders for the remaining conservation, landscaping works of the historic Gobindgarh Fort at Rs 13.95 crore, while Rs 15.18 crore works are already in progress,” he said.
Further, a sum of Rs eight crore would be spent on the conservation and setting up of a museum on the life of the legendary Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh at the Summer Palace, and was likely to be completed by the end of September next year.
Rs 5.28 crore had already been spent on the conservation and adaptive re-use of the historic Town Hall building as Food Street, and tenders for Rs 10.76 crore had been received for the completion of the remaining conservation works in Town Hall building by March end 2020.
Another Rs 10 crore had been sanctioned for the beautification of the road in front of holy Sri Durgiana Temple. A sum of Rs seven crore had been announced for different development works at Ram Tirath.
Chief Minister also announced to construct a state-of-the-art sports complex over an area of 25 acre in Ranjit Avenue at a cost of Rs 33 crores.
