Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday urged Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama to expeditiously clear the state’s loan proposals to ensure early implementation of development projects worth Rs. 3127 crore. The projects include 24X7 surface water supply system for Jalandhar and Patiala, besides conservation of historical monuments and buildings across the state.At a meeting here, the Chief Minister apprised Yokoyama that Punjab was facing acute scarcity of potable water, especially in the four major cities of Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana. His government had prepared a comprehensive plan to shift these cities from tubewell water to canal water to provide the people with quality drinking water.Making a detailed presentation, CEO Punjab Water Supply & Sewerage Board Ajoy Sharma said the total cost of the proposed surface water supply system was Rs.700 crore in Patiala and Rs.1227 crore in Jalandhar. He said the Local Government department would soon get a feasibility report prepared, through a technical consultant of international repute, in consultation with the representatives of ADB. The department would then work out the modalities for bidding for the project.Underlining the importance of preserving the state’s rich legacy and promote tourism, the Chief Minister impressed upon the Country Head ADB the need to fund the project for restoration and conservation of historical monuments and buildings across the state. He said the Tourism & Cultural department had already finalized an action plan to implement these projects within a time frame.
Captain Amarinder proposed the development of world-class Punjab State Archives & Library between Patiala and Mohali to keep the entire record at one place, along with a Punjab State Museum at Amritsar. He said both these institutions would help researchers, academicians, archeologists and archivists preserve the rich socio-cultural history of the state.The Tourism & Cultural affairs department apprised the ADB team that Rs.183 crore would be spent on the restoration and conservation project for the heritage city of Patiala, Rs.125 crore for the princely city of Kapurthala, Rs.70 crore for Malerkotla, Rs.32 crore for Faridkot, Rs.100 crore for Nabha, Rs.40 crore for Bathinda, Rs.10 crore for restoration of Mughal Sarai at Doraha, Rs.150 crore for the promotion of eco-tourism at Harike Pattan and Rs. 65 crore for the completion of ongoing memorials projects of Sri Guru Ravidass ji and Bhai Jaita ji.Apart from these, Rs.10 crore would be spent on the Anglo-Sikh War memorials at Mudki, Ferozeshah and Sabraon, Rs.10 crore for erecting monuments in the memory of great martyrs Shaheed Udham Singh, Madan Lal Dhingra and Kartar Singh Sarabha, and Rs. 10 crore for restoration work of the native houses of eminent literary personalities viz. Bhai Vir Singh, Shiv Kumar Batalvi and Sahir Ludhianvi. The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Local Government, Tourism & Cultural Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary Finance Anirudh Tiwari, Principal Secretary Local Government A. Venu Parsad, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, Secretary Tourism & Cultural Affairs Vikas Partap, Director Tourism & Cultural Affairs MS Jaggi, Project Officer ADB Vivek Vishal.