Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today stressed on the need for carrying out sustainable and holistic development of the city in a transparent manner. Presiding over a high level meeting to review ongoing works in the holy city, the Chief Minister said that every effort would be made to provide world class civic amenities to the residents. He said special attention needs to be paid towards the development of the walled city, whose residents were facing a quagmire of problems due to age old pipes of water and sewerage. Singh asked the officers to revisit the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project started by the previous Congress government (2002-2007) for the walled city, according to an official release here. He also asked the Chief Secretary to explore the feasibility of setting up an autonomous body for lifting and tackling of garbage problem in the holy city. The Chief Minister also gave nod to assess the viability of supplying surface water for drinking purpose to Amritsar city residents from Upper Bari Doab Canal. He said that this could help in saving the ground water on one hand and providing clean and potable drinking water to the city residents on other. Amarinder Singh said that the system of supplying surface water to cities for drinking could be well replicated in other parts of the state also. Meanwhile, reviewing the Smart City, AMRUT, HRIDAY and other schemes for the city, the Chief Minister underscored the need for executing the work under these schemes in a transparent manner.
