Curation Team
LUDHIANA: Striving hard to safeguard its existence from vanishing altogether, the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) is now eyeing the Punjab govt’s land pooling scheme to take up its long-pending project to establish a new residential and commercial zone in Lohara or Jaspal Bangar. The consultant hired to prepare the plan was asked to submit the report recently.
Meanwhile, the chairman of LIT, Tarsem Bhinder, plans to take up this issue with higher authorities in Chandigarh.
For many years, the LIT did not develop any new scheme in the city or beyond. As of now, they are not proceeding with any major project except for the construction of Atal Apartments on Pakhowal Road. The officials claimed that if there is no major project with LIT, the govt may consider its merger into MC.
It must be recalled that the LIT recently handed over existing areas under its jurisdiction to the MC for maintenance purposes, as it did not have the required staff and machinery. Its officials had reportedly said LIT is only for the development of various schemes, not for maintenance jobs.
As part of the newly proposed scheme, LIT has planned to develop residential as well as commercial pockets towards the Lohara side. The authorities are still waiting for approval from the local bodies department. Recently, after the launch of the land pooling scheme, officials of the local bodies department suggested that LIT should not get involved in any scheme development work, and suggested that the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (Glada) should instead do the same.
However, LIT officials claimed that there is a need to develop a new colony. They said they are planning to launch a green industry-cum-residential housing project. The LIT wants to develop hotels, restaurants, theatres, etc., behind which there can be residential areas. The officials plan to acquire at least 100 acres of land in the first phase. In the second phase, they can proceed with more land.
When contacted, LIT chairman said, “I am in touch with the officials of the local bodies department, and I have requested them to consider our request to allow the development of a new scheme under the land pooling scheme. It will provide good living options to people.”
