Amidst protest,Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday laid the foundation stone of Rs 300 crore Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) Pod car transportation system in Amritsar,which once completed,would make the Holy City only the second in the world after London to have such transport facility. The Pod system will enable pilgrims to reach the Golden Temple directly from the railway station or to city bus stand,bypassing the road route. The Podcars are small four to six-seater driver-less travel capsules that move on an elevated guideway. They are battery driven and guided by computers,offering completely automated entry and exits,and uninterrupted mobility. Shopkeepers apprehend that the system would adversely hit their business. The foundation stone was laid outside the Hall Gate where shopkeepers raised anti-government slogans and staged dharnas. After laying the foundation stone,Sukhbir held a meeting with the shopkeepers and told them the project would not affect their business. Later Sukhbir told reporters the project,which would be completed in 18 months,will put Amritsar on the international tourist map. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up the system has already been signed with a British firm. The SAD president said that after elevated road worth Rs 312 crore to the Golden Temple and Rs 820 crore Plaza Project,the Podcar would be a tribute of SAD-BJP government to the almighty. Speaking to the media after inaugurating the Raminder Singh Bularia memorial park set up at the cost of Rs 5 crore in Amritsar South constituency,Sukhbir said that the time has come for the electorate to make a choice between performers and non-performers and approve the development vision of SAD-BJP for the next 25 years. He said that they have been putting the factual comparative position of performance on different fronts before the people while Congress has nothing to showcase. Saying that Amritsar received a step motherly treatment from Congress,the deputy CM said that as against Rs 276 crore spent by the Congress on the development of the Holy City,the SAD-BJP combine has spent Rs 1,736 crore. Queried about the effect of delimitation and swapping of some seats with coalition partner BJP, Sukhbir said that a final decision would be taken soon. Also,the SAD would announce the names of the remaining candidates in a few days. On Anna Hazares campaign,Sukhbir said that the activists Jan Lokpal Bill and Right to Service (RTS) Act enacted by SAD-BJP government have a singular focus of stamping out corruption from public life. He said that while the RTS Act would check corruption,the Jan Lokpal Bill gives a curative solution after a corrupt act has been committed.
