17th meeting of BoDs of Ludhiana Smart City Limited held in Chandigarh 

Ludhiana, August 29, 2022: The 17th meeting of the Board of Directors (BoDs) of Ludhiana Smart City Limited was held today at Punjab Municipal Bhawan, Chandigarh to discuss various issues, including to review the status report of the Smart City Projects of Ludhiana Smart City Ltd and inclusion of new projects under Ludhiana Smart City Mission.

Architect Sanjay Goel, one of the directors of Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL) said it was observed in the meeting that Smart City Mission in Ludhiana-Punjab started in 2016 when SAD- BJP Government was in power and continued from 2017-2022 during Congress time and now its AAP, whereas cities are designed for hundreds of years and development of cities must be free from political interference.

Smart City Mission is of BJP, now Punjab state is governed by AAP and Mayor of Ludhiana is from Congress, so best interest and coordination required on all fronts. It was further observed that Ludhiana is an industrial city and no development or even good roads are coming up in industrial areas.

Upcoming all three smart cities in Punjab are having almost same type of problems and State Government can work in strong coordination with all cities to expedite results. Execution of Buddha Dariya rejuvenation project must be done with more accuracy and speed.

It was also observed that air, noise and water pollution is increasing in the city day after day and Government must come up with strict rules and its implementation to provide relief to the citizens. Public participation/interaction must be increased for better outcome of projects.

Ar Goel also gave few suggestions, inputs and complaints in the meeting. He said nothing has been done during last five years to solve traffic problems of Ludhiana City. No multi-level parking had come up although same has been discussed many times since 2016. Not even a single good road junction came up (like Chandigarh), which we can share with other cities. Many junctions are even without traffic lights. He further pointe dout that there is still lack of coordination in between different agencies responsible for development of Ludhiana city, which is a major cause of concern for unplanned growth and delayed development. He opined that all designs and drawings of projects must be shared with public before finalising DPR to call tenders.

Chairman LSCL has asked consultants to complete all ongoing works, especially small ones before December 2022. Pakhowal road ROB-RUB must be completed immediately. Ludhiana city must have its own architecture and planning department for best results in future to make city more livable.

He said with suggestions of Indian Institute of Architects Punjab Chapter, projects like Sidhwan Canal waterfront development, attractive lighting under elevated road was executed and vertical gardening is coming up. Recently LSCL got honoured at National level event in Mumbai.