Chandigarh, Dec. 23 — While Punjab has secured approvals worth thousands of crores under AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0, an RTI application has revealed that a large portion of committed central assistance is yet to be released.
According to RTI activist Kamal Anand, Punjab has received project approvals totaling nearly Rs 6,000 crore since 2021 to improve water supply, sewerage, sanitation and green spaces across urban areas. Of this, Rs 3,626.38 crore worth of projects have been sanctioned under AMRUT 2.0 alone.
Despite these approvals, only Rs 329.69 crore has been released against a committed central assistance of Rs 1,836 crore under AMRUT 2.0, the RTI response stated.
Among major cities, Amritsar received Rs 135.49 crore, followed by Ludhiana with Rs 88.11 crore, Bathinda with Rs 66.31 crore, Jalandhar with Rs 56.37 crore and Patiala with Rs 23.01 crore.
Under the Smart City Mission and AMRUT 2.0, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana together received Rs 4,143.31 crore for 189 completed projects, while Rs 342.35 crore has been approved for 15 ongoing works.
Dhuri, the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has received significant allocations for green spaces and water supply. Three projects worth Rs 50.58 crore have been approved, including a Rs 34.50 crore water supply project and two parks and green spaces costing Rs 16.08 crore.
Neighbouring towns Longowal, Cheema and Bhawanigarh have been sanctioned Rs 38 lakh, Rs 71 lakh and Rs 1.02 crore, respectively, for park development. Of the total Rs 38.23 crore earmarked for parks and green spaces under AMRUT 2.0, Dhuri alone received Rs 16.08 crore.
Sangrur has been allotted Rs 57.05 crore, while Muktsar received Rs 158.52 crore, including Rs 106 crore for sewerage and septage management. In total, 158 urban local bodies in Punjab are covered under the mission.
“Transparency is crucial to prevent corruption and delays,” Anand said. “The purpose of AMRUT is to improve basic urban services, and that objective can only be met if funds reach the ground on time.”
