300-tonne Samgauli biogas plant gets Mohali MC nod

The Mohali Municipal Corporation on Monday approved a proposal to set up a compressed biogas plant with a capacity of around 300 tonnes per day in Dera Bassi’s Samgauli village.

The plant will process waste generated in Mohali and eight nearby towns to produce organic fertiliser and compressed biogas.

It will use the waste collected from Mohali, Zirakpur, Kharar, Nayagaon, Dera Bassi, Kurali, Lalru, Banur and Gharuan.

The civic body will provide 20 acres to HPCL Renewable and Green Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Hindustan Petroleum, free of cost or at a nominal lease rate for 30 years for the project.

Following the MC House’s approval on Monday, land demarcation, project feasibility testing, and other formalities will be completed.

Congress councillor Narpinder Singh Rangi demanded that the House be regularly apprised of the proposals passed by the Finance and Contracts Committee.

Councillor Paramjit Singh Kahlon said the city’s sanitation system should be handed over to a single contractor.

Councillor Gurmukh Singh Sohal raised the issue of unauthorised furniture shops on both sides of the road from Madanpur Chowk to the Phase 4 temple. He said the goods displayed on the sidewalks had left little space for pedestrians. He also highlighted incidents of theft in the area and demanded action.

Councillor Naseeb Singh Sandhu demanded the construction of a slip road in Sector 82.

Mayor Sarabjit Singh Samana said the House had approved 13 agenda items.

“A committee has been formed to develop a night food street in the city. Action will also be taken against buses parked illegally in parking lots of the city markets. School bus operators will be fined Rs 500 per day and operators of other private buses will be fined Rs 1,000 per day. A proposal to regularise employees under the state government policy was also passed,” he said.

Bus stand likely in six months

Decks have been cleared to construct a new bus stand in Phase XI on around two acres, from where a Centre-funded city bus service may be launched within the next six months. Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh said under the first phase of the service, around 100 electric buses were likely to operate in Mohali.

‘Use additional auction revenue for development’

Former Mohali Deputy Mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi on Monday urged the Punjab Government to devote the additional revenue earned over the reserve price during the property auction by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) on August 21 to strengthen the basic infrastructure in the city.

The development authority had auctioned 27 of 36 properties, generating Rs 5,391 crore, while the combined reserve price of these properties was Rs 3,872 crore.