Despite unfinished projects, BDA plans new urban estates
Even as the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) has planned to acquire over 1,000 acres for new urban estates, several of its existing projects have remained underdeveloped for decades.
The authority is planning to acquire 894 acres in Bathinda and 125 acres in Mansa under the government’s land pooling policy. The projects are being implemented through the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), which is the apex body for urban development in the state. The BDA is one of its regional authorities focused on the planned development of Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot, Fazilka and Muktsar districts.
A ground check of some of the BDA projects in Abohar, Malout, Muktsar and Bathinda revealed broken or missing boundary walls, poor roads, unbuilt parks and markets.
Krishan Lal, secretary of the Residents’ Welfare Association, PUDA Colony in Abohar, said, “The plots were allotted in 2010, but the colony still lacks two parks and a market. The boundary wall is collapsing.”
In Malout’s PUDA Colony, broken streets, non-functional streetlights, stray animals and the absence of a market are major issues, which have pulled down property prices.
Muktsar’s PUDA Colony on Udekaran Road is nothing more than demarcated plots as nothing has moved on the ground in almost a decade.
About Urban Estate Phase-IV in Bathinda, its Residents’ Welfare Association president Harbir Singh said, “The plots were allotted in 2011, but three parks are still to be developed. We were promised underground power distribution, but we are getting an overhead supply. It was supposed to be a gated colony but we had to contribute money for fencing.”
BDA Additional Chief Administrator Narinder Singh said these projects were launched under the Optimum Utilisation of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) scheme without land acquisition.
“The work is in the pipeline with project reports ready for Malout. Estimates have been cleared for Abohar’s boundary wall. The Urban Estate Phase IV and V in Bathinda have been developed. A park’s work is underway. The estimate is ready for the second park and the work on the third will start later,” he said.
He added that though the Muktsar colony was undeveloped, the talks on the exchange of land were underway.
Punjab