The holy city Amritsar will get a facelift with development projects worth Rs1,668 crore to be made operational in the next 12 months.
Directing the officials of various departments to adhere to the deadlines for completion of these projects in a high-level marathon meeting to review the progress of all ongoing projects, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said that he would personally review the timeline of every project and it was imperative for all officials to stick to the timeline.
He asked all the departments to work in tandem to avoid any cost and time overrun of the projects.
The projects being undertaken to give the city a facelift include a plaza at the main entrance of the Golden Temple complex, which houses the Harmandir Sahib, the holiest of Sikh shrines.
Other projects include Rs160.60 crore sewerage work, flyovers, sports complex, beautification of the city and installation of CCTV cameras to make Amritsar a safe city.
Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said that some of the projects like beautification of Durgiana Mandir at the cost of Rs22 crore, construction of sports complex at Ranjit Avenue at the cost of Rs17 crore would be completed by the month of August 2013.
Asking the authorities to put the construction of Plaza at the main entrance of Golden Temple on fast track, Sukhbir said that construction agency should be asked to stick to timeline and as no delay beyond Diwali 2013 would be acceptable.
It was informed in the meeting that concept paper on project relating to improvement of approach road from Hall Gate to Plaza and improvement of façade of buildings around plaza have already been approved and Tourism Department would also give a suitable proposal for interiors or utilisation plan of space beneath Plaza.
The Authorities were asked to expedite the construction of New Jail at village Fatehpur and handover the possession of the land to the Improvement Trust Amritsar.
The tender for the construction of new jail have been floated on May 25, 2013.