by Punjabnewswire4u
CHANDIGARH, SEPT 14
Punjab
Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh to declare the project for tackling the menace of water logging
in state as ‘National Project’ and immediately release central assistance of Rs
960.62 crore.
Mr.
Badal called on the Prime Minister here at Punjab Raj Bhawan this afternoon as
the latter was in the capital on an official visit. The Chief Minister apprised
Dr. Singh that on the request of Punjab Government a team under the
Chairmanship of Union Rural Development Minister Mr. Jai Ram Ramesh had visited
badly affected water logged areas to take stock of the situation. Subsequently
a high power committee under the chairmanship of Member, Planning Commission
Dr. Mihir Shah, also visited the same region and suggested measures to solve
the problem of water logging in the area.
The Chief Minister informed Dr. Singh that keeping in view the
suggestions of high power committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Mihir
Shah, a project amounting to Rs.960.62 crores stands submitted for
approval and providing funds under Central Assistance for checking the menace
of water logging and salinity and to reclaim fertile land for agriculture
production. The anti-water logging measure proposed to be taken was also
envisaged to help in improving the environment and reduce the prevailing health
hazards. Mr. Badal bemoaned that inordinate delay in sanctioning the project
has once again pushed the people of south west Punjab to the same miserable
condition due to recent rains in August 2013.
The
Chief Minister further apprised Dr. Singh that unprecedented rains in the month
of September 2011, the worst in a span of last 80 years, submerged large
areas of south western Punjab and crops were completely damaged. Besides that,
the continuous seepage from the twin canals namely Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind
feeder also increased the water logging problem in the area. All the low lying
pockets running through village Abadies as well as agriculture land were
filled with 2 to 6 feet depth of flood water. Dewatering arrangements on a
large scale were put in place to ameliorate the situation, he added.
Flagging
up another issue for seeking the approval of Union Cabinet for the setting up
of the Cancer hospital in the state on the lines of Tata Memorial Cancer (TMC)
Hospital by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Mr. Badal requested the
Prime Minister to personally intervene in the matter for putting the
prestigious project on fast track. Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister, Mr.
Badal said that the people of Punjab were extremely grateful to him for
recognizing the gravity of the problem of cancer in the State and thus giving
in principle approval to establish this hospital. Mr. Badal informed the Prime
Minister that the state Government has already handed over the site identified
by DAE, free of cost for this purpose adding he said that all concerned
departments have given their concurrence to the proposal, which was all set for
the green signal from the Union Cabinet under your leadership. The Chief Minister also urged Dr. Singh to
lay the foundation stone of this landmark project.
Reiterating his request to modify the instructions for
upward revision in the quantum of relief in cases of natural calamities to make
it more meaningful, the Chief Minister brought into the notice of Dr. Singh
that he had already taken up this issue for seeking enhancement of relief
admissible out of the State Disaster Response Fund in case of 100% loss of
crops. Mr. Badal also made a similar request in case of damage to houses, as
well as loss of milch animals. He cited currently, the maximum amount of relief
in case of complete damage to a house was Rs.70,000 which should be increased
to Rs.1.25 lakh, with corresponding enhancement in case of partial damage etc.
Similarly, the current guidelines stipulated that relief would be admissible
only for the loss of one large milch animal even though many such animals might
have been lost. He lamented that the amount of relief was quite inadequate in
any case; and to restrict it to one animal caused avoidable hardship to the
affected persons.
Seeking his personal intervention, Mr. Badal impressed
upon the Prime Minister to direct the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways/
National Highways Authority of India may be directed to expedite Ludhiana-
Delhi expressway by giving it top priority. He informed that fast and secure
road highways are emerging as an important factor for investment promotion and
industrialization in the country. City of Ludhiana popularly known as
“Manchester of India” has developed as a catalyst for further industrialization
in the State. In order to boost further investment and industrialization, the
Chief Minister reminded Dr. Singh that he had been advocating cause of
expressway between Ludhiana and Delhi therefore he sought Prime Minister’s
personal intervention to give top priority to the project especially in context
of Amritsar- Kolkata industrial corridor, construction of Ludhiana-Delhi
expressway becomes more imperative.
Responding to the issues raised by the Chief Minister,
Dr. Singh assured him of positive outcome. He told Mr. Badal that he would soon
take up the issues flagged up by him with the concerned ministries for their
resolution at the earliest. The Prime Minister invited Mr. Badal to National
capital with a Comprehensive Project Report to combat the problem of water
logging in the state so that a permanent solution could be found to this vexed
problem.
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