Punjab CM for inclusion of Mohali in Smart city project
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Jun, 2023 11:27 AM
New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday urged Union Housing and Development Minister Hardeep Puri to include SAS Nagar (Mohali) in the Smart City project for its inclusive development.
The Chief Minister, who called on Puri here, underscored the need to develop Mohali as Smart City. He apprised the Union Minister that Mohali is part of tri-city comprising Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula due to which this city holds immense significance.
Mann said most of the departments of the state government have their head offices in this city due to which it is imperative to give further fillip to its growth and it is the need of hour to include this city in the Smart City Project for further holistic and planned growth.
Mohali and its adjoining municipal committees like Zirakpur, Kharar, Derabassi, and Kurali have witnessed immense growth with the international airport and the presence of educational institutes, townships and industries.
Mann said the area needs special funding to support planned growth and infrastructure development.
Flagging another issue, the Chief Minister requested the restoration of the same ratio of funds under AMRUT 2.0 as was earlier in AMRUT 1.
He said under AMRUT 1.0. the Centre and the state share was 50:50 for towns in one lakh to 10 lakh population category whereas under AMRUT 2.0, the Centre and the state share has been revised to 33:67 for the towns under the same population category, adding for million-plus cities like Ludhiana and Amritsar, the ratio was 33:67 (the Centre and the state share) and under AMRUT 2.0, it is 75:25.
Mann said as these towns are rapidly expanding they need continuous infrastructure development for which the old share ratio must be restored.
She reached Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, by air in the morning from where she headed straight to her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's cottage located amid forests of pine and cedar on the suburbs of the Himachal Pradesh capital.
Channi took oath of office along with his two deputies -- one a Jat Sikh and another belonging to the Hindu community -- at a simple ceremony here in the Punjab capital that was delayed for 20 minutes owing to the late arrival of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
Jasbir Singh Virk, president of Bhartiya Sikh Sangthan, has underlined the need to intensify the ongoing farmers' agitation and said that there was a need to shore up strength at the Delhi borders.
Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma told IANS that to control infighting in its party state unit, the Congress leadership made Channi ji (Charanjit Singh Channi) the Punjab Chief Minister but insulted the Dalit community by not allowing him to lead the party in the upcoming state Assembly polls.
The government and drug controller's office will have to take a decision on the third booster dose based on data and cases as times goes on and including how effective the vaccine is on the Delta virus variant, he added.
