Amritsar MC gets Rs 20 crore for development works

Amritsar, July 5

Finally, the state government has released an instalment of Rs 20 crore for the development works which were incomplete due to scarcity of funds. The MC would be able to pay funds to contractors and there is hope that carpeting of roads would be resumed.

Six months ago, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation had issued work orders worth Rs 85 crore for development work in five assembly constituencies of the city. But the municipal corporation got only an instalment of Rs 20 crore from Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) for this. The PMIDC has not released any amount to the corporation in the last five months.

MC officials claimed that Rs 20 crore, released earlier, was paid to the contractors concerned. Due to non-payment of funds for a long time, development works by the contractors were stopped mid-way.

In this regard, MC Commissioner Harpreet Singh visited Chandigarh and met top officials of the Local Bodies Department. On June 27, when the amount was not received, the MLA of Central assembly Constituency Dr Ajay Gupta met Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Local Bodies Department (Punjab) Special Secretary Ajoy Sharma in Chandigarh.

MLA Gupta informed the Special Secretary that funds are not being released to the municipal corporation for development works by PMIDC. As a result of which, development works are currently at a standstill due to non-payment of funds to the contractors. These funds should be released by PMIDC at the earliest.

MLA Gupta had informed the Special Secretary that utilization certificates of Rs 20 crore has already been issued by the municipal corporation and the Deputy Commissioner’s office, on which Ajoy Sharma said that the funds will be released in the coming days.

On Thursday, PMIDC released the second instalment of Rs 20 crore to the corporation. MC officials claimed that several development projects would be completed with this grant.