Sukhbir Badal gives nod for setting up of state solid waste management authority

Chandigarh, July 11, 2014: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has approved a proposal to establish a Solid Waste Management Authority with the aim of ensuring efficient disposal of waste in urban areas.
The Deputy CM has also asked the Local Bodies department to formulate a “Mission 100 Days” plan to complete all ongoing works and also fix future targets.
The landmark decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of senior officers of the department of Local Bodies here today.
The Deputy CM also approved division of the State into eight clusters for establishing of an integrated solid waste management plants. These plants will now come up at Ludhiana, Pathankot, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Patiala, Mohali and Ferozpur.
Badal also asked the department to involve gram panchayats of adjoining villages willing to bond themselves in the ongoing cleanliness drive by the local bodies department so as to make the villages clean and green.
Meanwhile to ensure an end to delays in granting of clearances for building plan maps, Badal said local bodies should be empowered to hand over clearance certificates. He directed the Secretary local bodies to digitalize record of building plans and link it with the Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (PBIP) so that the bureau could give timely approvals to the building plans of new business ventures.
Taking strong exception to the irregularities on the part of contractors in municipal bodies while executing the development works, Deputy CM directed the department that any contractor who was put on the defaulter list for failing to meet the desired specifications would be blacklisted. He said any contractor who was so blacklisted would not be able to apply for any government contracts. He also made it clear that all companies taking up government contracts in Punjab would have to give an affidavit that no blacklisted contractor was an partner in their firm.
Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included P.S.Aujla, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM, Ashok Gupta Secretary Local Bodies, Anirudh Tewari CEO PBIP, Priyank Bharti Director Local Bodies, Manvesh Singh Sidhu and Ajay Mahajan both Special Principal Secretaries to Deputy CM.