CHANDIGARH:   Decks have been cleared for a major modernization and infrastructure make over of the twin holy cities of Sri Anandpur Sahib and Talwandi Sabo at a cost of nearly Rs. 200 crore. The make over would be a part of the Guru-ta-Gaddi anniversary programmes.

The Punjab Chief Minister  Parkash Singh Badal Wednesday presided over a meeting which gave a final shape to various infrastructure projects to be executed in the two cities.  He impressed upon of officers of the concerned departments to ensure timely completion of these development projects besides its proper and strict monitoring.

The Chief Minister informed that the  Union Home Minister  Shivraj.V. Patil had already written a letter to him  conveying to immediately commence work on these projects in anticipation of the release of funds so that these were completed without any delay. The communiqué also mentioned that the requisite funds of Rs. 9974.77 lakhs and Rs. 7984 lakhs approved by the Central Government for Sri Anandpur Sahib and Talwandi Sabo could not be included in the budget estimate for the year 2008-09, as the Ministry of Finance had now informed that the allocation would be taken up as a part of the first supplementary funds of grants. Mr. Patil also asked the state government to follow accounting norms for proper utilization of funds for the implementation of these projects. The expenditure incurred would be reimbursed by the Central Government as soon as the allocation was received from Ministry of Finance.

The Chief Minister specifically asked the officers to invite tenders for all the works from the executing agencies of repute positively by 15th of July and all the works must be completed by the 1st week of October, 2008. Mr. Badal also asked the Technical Advisor to the Punjab Government Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Mr. B.S. Dhaliwal to monitor the terms and references of the tenders to be floated by the concerned departments. Mr. Dhaliwal assured the Chief Minister that the quality of construction would not be compromised at any cost and the entire development projects would be completed within a time frame.

It was informed in the meeting that out of Rs. 105.14 crore to be spent on different development projects to be undertaken in Sri Anandpur Sahib included water supply, sewerage & sanitation (Rs. 15.5 crore), storm water drain (Rs. 4.44 crore), solid waste management (Rs. 6 crore) traffic and transportation (Rs. 20 crore) street lighting (Rs. 1.40 crore) Fire fighting (Rs. 1 crore) besides other infrastructure projects like construction of new bus stand, Sr. Secondary school for girls, IT college and Polytechnic college (Rs. 56.80 crore). Likewise out of Rs. 82.06 crore for Talwandi Sabo, Rs. 9.3 crore would be spent on water supply, sewerage & sanitation, Rs. 3.54 crore on storm water drain, Rs. 4 crore on  solid waste management, Rs. 31 crore on traffic and transportation, Rs. 26.5 crore on education infrastructure including construction of state-of-the art Religio-Cultural center, Youth Hostel, Rural University etc, besides, Rs.7.72 crore on other miscellaneous projects. The Chief Minister also asked the concerned officers to give a aesthetic face life to both holy towns through the installation of façade lighting and white painting to enhance its serenity and aura. A brief presentation was also made by representative of an eminent lighting company for the proposed project based on the new concept of solid state lighting. Mr. Badal also directed the state Public Information Relations Department to publish literature in Punjabi, English and Hindi on the historical and religious perspective of Sri Anandpur Sahib and Talwandi Sabo in the light of the Guru-ta-Gaddi Divas.

The meeting was attended by the Chief Minister's Media Advisor Mr. Harcharn Bains, Chief Secretary Punjab Mr. Ramesh Inder Singh, Principal Secretary D.S. Guru, Principal Secretary Transport D.S. Jaspal, Principal Secretary Employment Generation N.S. Kang, Principal Secretary Cultural Affairs Dr. Swarn Singh, Principal Secretary Tejinder Kaur, Secretary Tourism D.P.Reddy, Secretary water supply and sanitation P.S. Aujla,  Director Information & Public Relations Tejveer Singh, Director Transport Mandeep Singh, Director Local Government Sameer Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Ropar B. Purshartha, Chief Administrator Bathinda Development Authority Kamal Yadav, ADC Bathinda Vijay Zade and Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. Gagandeep Singh Brar besides, Senior Akali Leaders from Talwandi Sabo Mr. Amarjit Singh Sidhu.