After dropping two plans earlier, AIT settles for commercial project now

Now, the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has planned again to set up a commercial project at the prime space where previously a multipurpose sports stadium and then Unity Mall were proposed by it.

The 27-acre prime site, valued at about Rs 700 crore, was earlier earmarked for a sports complex. Now the AIT has sent a plan to the Local Bodies Department in Chandigarh to ratify it to set up a commercial area with a site earmarked for a hotel.

Rakesh Garg, Superintending Engineer of the AIT, confirming the development said only 9.92 acres out of the 27-acre land has been proposed to be earmarked for a commercial project. The project is at the planning stage and its details would be worked out once the plan is approved.

The prime space is being used as a waste dumping site, which becomes a cause for concern for nearby residents during the monsoon season. Garg said to prevent waste dumping, a boundary wall is being raised around the area.

In the first quarter of this year, the AIT nixed the plan to come up with a Rs 80-crore commercial project, Unity Mall, on prime land in Ranjit Avenue.

Before that, the 27-acre site was earmarked for a sports complex. Last year, around 10 acres were allotted to Unity Mall.

The sports complex was a dream project of former Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, but the project was shelved after a change of guard in the state.

Earlier, a state-of-the-art sports complex, as promised by several political leaders, could have gone a long way in preparing youngsters for different sports disciplines.

Former Chief Ministers Capt Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi along with former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal had laid the foundation stones of the sports stadium during their respective tenures, each making public promises to elevate sports infrastructure in the city.

In January 2022, Charanjit Singh Channi became the third dignitary to lay the foundation stone of the stadium after Sukhbir Singh Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh, who had done so in 2011.

The sports complex was first proposed around 15 years ago, but construction was delayed due to the site falling within a no-construction zone due to its proximity to the bypass. As the bypass was later reclassified as an inner ring road, the land became eligible for development.

However, the AIT has now ruled out any future sports infrastructure on the remaining 15 acres of land, which will instead be used for commercial exploitation.

Amritsar