Punjab CM meets Dera Ballan chief, lays stone for sewage treatment plant

Having announced starting of Sri Guru Ravidass Study (GRD) Centre at Dera Sachkhand Ballan and presenting a cheque of Rs 25 lakh more than two years ago, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann visited the dera today and assured the dera chief to restart the project at the earliest.

Mann met dera chief Sant Niranjan Dass and told him that the land for the study centre would be purchased at the market rate soon.

“We will not acquire land for the centre. We will not force farmers to give up their land at any specific site. We will look for farmers who voluntarily give us land,” the CM is learnt to have told the dera functionaries and AAP leaders present during the meeting. The proposal is to purchase about 10 acres of land somewhere between Kishangarh and Kartarpur.

The party leaders cited reasons for the delay in the project. “The funds had been erroneously issued under the head for developing Kartarpur’s panchayati land. A lot of paper work was required for clearance and permissions of the project under that head. We are working to settle that issue. The project was entrusted with Sushil Rinku, who was the then AAP MP. But he too quit us. So, all this led to the delay,” said AAP Spokesperson Pawan Tinu.

He also blamed ex-Punjab Chief Minister for doling out cheque in the last few days of the Congress rule in December 2021. “He had given a political cheque,” remarked Tinu. The project has been an issue of contention between Channi, who is now the Jalandhar Congress MP, and the AAP government. The project was announced by Channi, who later blamed the AAP for withdrawing the amount after coming to power and doling it out again ahead of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll.

Mann on Thursday also laid the foundation stone for a sewage treatment plant (STP) and the main pumping station at Dera Sachkhand Ballan, a project to be completed at a cost of Rs 3.4 crore. The dera has a considerable following of the dominant Ravidassia community in the region.

The CM said, “The STP will have a capacity of 0.5 MLD (Million litres per day) and is expected to be completed within 12 months at a cost of Rs 3.4 crore. The treated water from the plant will be recycled and reused, supporting the irrigation of approximately 13 hectares of land.”

Mann lauded the dera for playing a leading role in social welfare. Several dignitaries, including Cabinet Ministers Harbhajan Singh ETO, Lal Chand Kataruchak, Dr Ravjot Singh and Mohinder Bhagat, Lok Sabha MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, MLAs Balkar Singh, Inderjit Kaur Mann and Jasvir Singh Gill, Chairman of the Punjab Safai Karamchari Commission Chandan Grewal, Chairman of the Punjab State Cooperative Bank Pawan Tinu, Chairman of the Punjab Agro Mangal Singh Bassi and others were also present on the occasion.