Karnal Smart City project gets wings after 9 months
rveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, June 28
The Karnal Smart City project which has been hanging fire for the last around 9 months has finally got its wings after 16 projects were approved by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar three days ago in a meeting with officials here.
The tenders had been floated for seven projects, and for the remaining the process would be started soon, said an official.
‘WORK WILL START FROM JULY 15’
The Chief Minister has approved 16 projects. We are hopeful that the tendering process will be completed in a couple of days, and the work on most of these projects will start from July 15. — Nishant Kumar Yadav, KMC Commisssioner-cum-DC
“The Chief Minister has approved 16 projects. We are hopeful that the tendering process will be completed in a couple of days, and the work on most of these projects will start from July 15,” said Nishant Kumar Yadav,MC Cmmisssioner-cum-DC, adding that the projects under PAN City would be taken on priority.
Laying of electrical wires underground, beautification of major roads, development wellness trail in parks by installing open air gyms and meditation areas, installation of rainwater harvesting system in 30 government buildings and schools, development of walking street as a cultural corridor on a stretch from Maharaja Agrasen Chowk to Gita Dwar, purchasing of a super sucker-cum-jetting machine for cleaning of drains, construction of public toilets, installation of around 25,000 streetlights in the city were among the projects approved by the CM, he added.
The cultural corridor would undergo landscaping, get chain link fencing and wall paintings. A cycling track would also be reconstructed. For the same, Rs 2.71 crore would be spent, he added.
Karnal was included in the smart cities’ list on June 23, 2017. As many as 57 projects worth Rs 1,171.83 crore, comprising 40 projects Rs 1,022.08 crore, under the area-based development (ABD) for smart amenities, and 17 projects worth Rs 149.75 crores under PAN City Solutions were to be completed in five years.
A source associated with the Smart City project said only 11 projects under integrated command and control centre, and three other projects, including beautification of novelty road, smart schools and neki ki diwar, were commenced in September 2019, but were still underway.
Besides, the CM had already withheld four major projects, including development of Mughal Canal phase II and III worth Rs 265 crore, redevelopment of old vegetable market at a cost of Rs 26.45 crore, creation of commercial space in the old office of the Karnal Municipal Corporation at a cost of Rs 15 crore and city bus terminus under the redevelopment of the old bus stand project atRs 23.48 crore.
