Punjab Deputy CM seeks more funds from Centre for smart city

LUDHIANA, September 8: Demanding more funds from the Centre under the Smart City project, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today sought Rs 2,500 crore for the city even as he announced the construction of an elevated road here at the cost of Rs 1,100 crore. "The Centre should allot at least Rs 2,500 crore for Ludhiana because an amount of Rs 500 crore was not sufficient for overall development of the city," he said here, adding, the state was willing to invest Rs 500 crore for the city alone. In Punjab, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar will be developed as smart cities. Badal said an elevated road would be constructed in the city, starting from Samrala Chowk to Octroi Post on Ferozepur Road at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore, with an aim to ease traffic congestion here. Under the Safe City project, high resolution CCTV cameras would be installed in 160 different places here which would help in checking crime. The first phase of this project would be completed by November this year, Badal said. About the Sahnewal airport, the Deputy chief minister said it could not function properly due to some "technical problems". Badal said he has taken up the matter with the Civil Aviation Ministry and has requested it to construct civil terminals at the Halwara Air Force Station which could be used as a domestic airport. He assured the city residents that by January 2016 all roads in Ludhiana would be free from potholes as the state was coming up with a comprehensive project. Also, for better and effective cleaning of roads, Italian-made automatic cleaning machines would be deputed in all cities of the state in next two months, he said. All national highways and state highways of Punjab would be upgraded by spending Rs 5,000 crore, he said. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has finalised the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for six-laning with alignment starting from Sector-39 junction Chandigarh following NH-21 and NH-95 upto Samrala Chowk in Ludhiana under Build Operate Transfer (BOT) model, the Deputy Chief Minister said.