CM lays foundation for 342 devpt projects for city worth Rs 413 cr

Lucknow: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 342 projects of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) worth Rs 413.07 crore at a function at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan to mark Mayor Sushma Kharkwal’s three years in office.Addressing the gathering, the CM also announced approval for a convention centre with a seating capacity of 10,000 in Lucknow.Officials said foundation stones were laid for 76 projects worth Rs 276.95 crore, while 266 completed works worth Rs 136.12 crore were inaugurated on the occasion.Road construction and improvement work form a major share of the expenditure, including CC roads, paver roads, interlocking roads, road widening, repair and footpath development in different wards. Officials said that the estimated expenditure on these works was around Rs 70-80 crore.Drainage and sewer infrastructure projects account for another major component. The works include RCC drain construction, underground drainage pipelines, drain covering, water discharge channels and renovation of old drains in various localities. Spending on these projects is estimated at Rs 55-65 crore.The largest allocation, estimated between Rs 265 crore and Rs 285 crore, has been made for civic infrastructure and urban redevelopment projects. These include the new building of LMC headquarters in Gomti Nagar, underground parking and zonal office at Chakbast Kothi, Kukrail urban plaza and commercial complex, gas-based crematoriums, animal care centres, Anganwadi centres, community halls, zonal offices, pond beautification works and Smart City projects.Mayor Sushma Kharkwal said the municipal corporation was focusing on sanitation, roads, drainage, park development and waterlogging mitigation during the last three years.She said nearly 2,000 metric tonnes of waste was being processed daily at the Shivri plant and around 1.85 million metric tonnes of legacy waste had been cleared from the Shivri dumping site. She added that the Ghaila dumping site was reclaimed and converted into Rashtra Prerna Sthal.The mayor said over 1,500 electric vehicles were being used for door-to-door waste collection and 35 transfer stations had been developed across the city. She said over three lakh saplings had been planted under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign.The programme held at the Jupiter auditorium included release of a booklet on civic works and screening of a short film on projects undertaken during the past three years under the ‘Swachh, Sundar, Samarth Lucknow’ campaign.Urban development minister AK Sharma and finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said Lucknow’s sanitation and urban infrastructure had improved in recent years.