Abohar: Govt ready to resume work on Abha Square

If the assurance given to MLA Sandeep Jakhar by Minister of Local Government Balkar Singh turns into a reality, then people here can expect long-pending Abha Square to blossom soon.

Abha Square and Chokho Abohar were among the projects the previous government headed by Captain Amarinder Singh took up; however, the same could not make much headway after the change of government and none of these have so far been completed.

MLA Jakhar said on Tuesday Minister Balkar Singh told him that tenders for the pending development work have been issued and they were to be finalised on September 22. He said when the present government was formed in the state, the development projects in the old grain market came to a standstill.

He said development work had come to a halt for want of Rs 1.33 crore. He said due to administrative negligence, Abohar was in ruins. He said Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema has been requested to ensure that the development projects are not hit again due to a lack of funds. He has also invited both the ministers to come to Abohar and see the poor state of development there.

He said, “Once again, the town that saw the beginning of a remarkable development during the previous government has been turned into rubble. I led three camps at the Abha Square with the ‘Apna Abohar, Apni Abha’ team to remove tonnes of waste material, shrubs, and other kinds of garbage that was allowed to accumulate in the past few months. Saplings have been planted and bamboo-made tree guards fixed to give the area a pleasing look.”

Official sources said there had been a delay in providing a power connection to Abha Square, for which the state government recently released funds on a returnable basis to the local administration. They said the construction of the sub-divisional administrative complex to bring all the state government offices under the same roof could not be completed due to the paucity of funds.