Punjab CM seeks personal intervention of Jaitley and Uma Bharti to restart work on canalization

Chandigarh, August 28, 2014: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought personal intervention of Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitely and Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti for prompt clearance of the project to restart work on the Canalization of Sakki/Kiran Nallah in Amritsar and Gurdaspur Districts.
In separate letters to both the Union Ministers, Badal apprised them that this ambitious project, which would play a pivotal role in saving the border districts of state from the scourge of floods, was approved by Government of India (GoI) in June 2006 at a cost of Rs.111.39 crores. Subsequently, he said that the work on this prestigious project was kicked off at that time. However, Badal said that due to some objections raised by the Army authorities regarding design of bridges in border area the work was halted thereby resulting in the delay in its execution.
The Chief Minister apprised both the Ministers that due to the stopping of construction work the project cost has now escalated to Rs. 400.26 crores adding that now the project has been split into two parts based on Flood Management requirement of Punjab (FMP) and requirement of Army authorities. Likewise, he said that the first phase of project under FMP worth Rs.208.98 crores was to be shared by the Union and State government in the Ratio of 75:25 adding that the Rs 191.29 crore would be borne by the Ministry of Defence, Government of India for the completion of the second phase as per the requirement of Army. Urging both the Ministers to get this project cleared at the earliest for the restarting of work, Badal said that this ambitious project would prove to be a boon for the border areas of the state.