Smart City Mission deadline over, many projects pending
The Smart Cities Mission’s period to complete ongoing projects ended on Monday but there are many projects that remain incomplete and two have failed to even kick-off. The projects under the mission were slated to be completed by June 2023 but since the completion of the same was pending, the government extended the deadline to June 2024 but still many remained incomplete and again giving a relief, the deadline was extended to March 2025. But again, the projects lie incomplete and now, officials are expecting the deadline to be extended by another six months.
The projects that lie incomplete include a basketball stadium project, construction of a bridge over the Buddha Nullah near Chand Cinema, bio-remediation of legacy waste, the UID number plate project and all-weather swimming pool. The foundation stone of the project to renovate Rose Garden was laid only last week.
Though the construction of a bridge across the Buddha Nullah near Chand Cinema has picked up pace, the work is still pending. It’s work was scheduled to be completed in September 2024 but it missed its’s deadline and the next deadline was fixed on March, 31 2025.
The project cost is Rs 8.25 crore and the work was started in December 2023 and nine months’ time was given for completion but it kept missing its deadlines. The bridge is important for traffic coming from the Jalandhar bypass side and in its absence, commuters going towards towards Jagraon Bridge or Clock Tower have to take a little longer route.
The bridge was declared unsafe in 2011 and in 2018 it was closed for heavy traffic and in 2021 it was shut for traffic diverting traffic to an adjacent bridge.
Another important project that remains pending is installation of smart UID number plates outside houses. Earlier contractors withdrew from the project as a result, tenders were floated again and it got delayed.
Sports enthusiasts had to wait a little longer for all-weather swimming pool. It is expected to be completed by mid-April while the MC has already imposed Rs 10 lakh penalty on the contractor for delay in completion of the basketball court project in Guru Nanak Stadium.
According to a senior official in the MC, a few projects are pending and it is expected that the deadline will be extended and they would get six months’ more time to complete the same.
