Directing expeditious time-bound completion of critical public and building work projects, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday sanctioned an additional Rs 200 crore for completing all ongoing planned roads and bridges on priority in the current and next fiscal.

The Chief Minister issued the directions during a videoconference meeting of the Empowered Committee of Cabinet on Projects of Key Concern to the State, attended by the Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, the Public Works Department Minister Vijay Inder Singla, the Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, and several senior Government officials.

Capt Amarinder, chairing the meeting, said that the allocation of another Rs 200 crore would give a big boost to the ongoing roads and bridges projects, which had been budgeted earlier at a cost of Rs 854 crore. The fund infusion would raise the total budget for the execution of these works to Rs 1,054 crore.

On the building works currently in progress at a cost of Rs 356 crore, the Chief Minister also directed their completion on priority, according to an official spokesperson.

COORDINATION PANEL TO BE SET UP TO EXPEDITE ROAD PROJECTS

To ensure better connectivity and give impetus to all round economic development, Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh on Tuesday discussed the status of various NHAI projects in the state with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) chairman Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu to speed up pace of road projects.

Chief Secretary has directed the constitution of a Coordination Committee of senior officers from various concerned departments, which will meet every fortnight for an early resolution of various issues in an effort to expedite the projects of NHAI, including the proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. 

Referring to the connectivity of new alignment to Amritsar from Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, in an enquiry about various issues related to land acquisition for Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway project, the Chief Secretary was informed that concerted efforts are being made to award this project by October-November and the State Government is providing the necessary support for expediting land acquisition and other pre-construction activities. During the meeting, alignments of 12 new upcoming projects in the state, including decongestion of Zirakpur, were also discussed.