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Gagan K Teja
Tribune News Service
Patiala, June 18
The multi-crore ultra-modern fully AC bus stand project for Patiala may kick off soon as the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) has invited tenders for hiring a consultant to prepare the final plan for the construction of the bus stand.
The project will take nearly a year and a half for its completion. The administration has identified 10 acres on the Patiala bypass connecting the Rajpura and Sirhind road, which belongs to the Improvement Trust. According to the proposal, while 3 acres will be used for setting up a workshop, the remaining 7 acres will be used for the construction of the new bus stand.
With this, the long wait of Patialavis for an ultra-modern bus stand will come to an end.
Earlier, Sukhbir Badal had laid the foundation stone of the Rs 300-crore ultra-modern fully AC bus stand for Patiala in 2009, but the project failed to take off following legal hitches.
The 13.87 acre PRTC land, that was earmarked for the purpose and which was given on lease to a private firm on contract, is lying vacant for the past seven years. Though the case between the PRTC and the private firm is in the argument stage, the delay has become a roadblock for the PRTC.
In October 2009, the PRTC handed over the project to a private construction company, which was supposed to complete the first phase in 17 months.
As per the agreement, the company paid an initial lease amount of Rs 13.5 crore in two instalments to the PRTC for 20 years and was supposed to pay another Rs 13.5 crore in the next six months.
However, following a claim by a local man that the land belonged to him and not the PRTC even though there was no stay on the land, the company filed a case in the court so that the PRTC could not forfeit its Rs 10 crore bank guarantee even if it did not begin the work, which was dismissed.
Following this, the PRTC authorities moved court against the company to get back the possession of the land, while the firm followed the same to get its lease amount. The case of cross litigation between both parties is still pending.
With a change in government last year and the focus shifting on Patiala since it is the hometown
of the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, the project has once again come on the priority list.
Patiala DC Kumar Amit said the district authorities had already finalised the plan and now the PIDB had invited tenders for hiring a consultant that will be dealt with tomorrow.
He said the construction of the bus stand on the bypass would ease city traffic as the existing bus stand was in the heart of the city.
PRTC Managing Director Manjit Singh Narang confirmed the development and said he was hopeful that the project would be completed within 180 days.
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