Those at helm decorated their palaces at cost of a dilapidated Patiala: Punjab CM
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Jan, 2023 11:19 AM
Patiala, Jan 20 (IANS) Despite being a power centre, Patiala lagged behind in process of development due to "vested interests" and "greed" of the successive rulers, who "decorated their own palaces at the cost of dilapidation of the city", Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said.
The Chief Minister, while interacting with the media after reviewing the progress of development projects worth Rs 167 crore in the city, said it is ironic that the Maharajas in power were more concerned about their own development rather than that of the city.
He said though Patiala was known as 'City of Gardens' but due to apathy of those in power, the city lost its shine in the last few years.
Mann bemoaned that the rulers of Punjab, who hailed from Patiala, remained callous about the development of the city.
He said the work on the majority of these projects, including construction of new bus stand, roads, drain channelisation and beautification project, construction of digital library at Musafir Memorial Central state library and others, have been hanging in fire since long.
However, he said that his government, which is committed to the development and progress of Patiala, has put these projects on a fast-track mode.
The work on the state-of-the-art bus stand, which is being constructed to cope up with the futuristic needs, will be completed by April 1, he said.
The Chief Minister said 93 per cent work of the bus stand has already been completed. Once operational, 1,500 buses will ply from this bus stand and will facilitate the residents a lot.
He said the existing bus stand will be used as a city bus stand, adding a shuttle bus service will be introduced.
The Chief Minister said Rs 20 crore is being spent for extending round-the-clock canal water supply to the city, adding the work for channelising and beautification of model town drain will be completed by March 31.
He said the Rajindra Tank would be developed into a tourism spot for attracting the people from across the globe. Likewise, Mann said Rs 8.26 crore is being spent on digitalisation of the Musafir Memorial Central State Library.
The accused has been identified as Abhinav Prakash, a resident of Dwarka, working as a trainee ticketing agent of British Airways at DLF Qutub Plaza, Gurugram, for the last seven months. He reportedly made the hoax call to delay the departure of his friends' 'girlfriends' who were on board the said flight.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India has shown growth and resilience amid global headwinds, as he urged the public and private sectors to seize opportunities arising as a result of emerging global environment, and to think out of the box. Modi said this during his interaction with economists prior to the forthcoming Union Budget to be presented on February 1.
In the latest twist in the Air India urination incident, Shankar Mishra, accused of relieving himself on an elderly woman co-passenger while in a drunken state, on Friday sought to recant from any involvement in the episode and brazenly accused the victim of soiling her own seat. However, his attempt at evading any responsibility may not succeed as it leaves many questions unanswered.
The bus, carrying around 45 passengers, reportedly crashed headlong into the truck coming from the opposite direction and then overturned, resulting in the huge tragedy, said the police. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed shock and grief over the tragedy and announced a compensation of Rs.5-lakhs to the kin of all the deceased besides free medical treatment for all the injured victims.
While scanning the CCTV camera, the police found Chagan carrying the little girl. Both the families live on a footpath. On Wednesday, police picked up the accused and inquired about the girl. The body was recovered on Wednesday and sent for post-mortem. The accused has been detained and will be arrested once his corona report is negative.
The unknown caller first called shortly after 4 p.m. to warn that he had planted a 'time-bomb' in the school premises and abruptly disconnected. A few minutes later, he again called up and repeated the threat even as the panicked school authorities approached the police.
