Ludhiana City Centre project to continue: CM

Chandigarh, Sept 15: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today affirmed that he would not halt the controversial City Centre project in Ludhiana, even as he said that the state Vigilance Bureau would submit its preliminary inquiry report into the matter within a month.

''Let the people know the truth before the elections as the Vigilance Bureau has been asked to submit a preliminary inquiry report within a month, while the CBI will take at least one month to initiate such a probe,'' Capt Singh said at a press conference here, He rejected the opposition's demand for a CBI probe into the alleged murky deals in the multi-crore housing-cum-commercial project.

The mega project was proposed to be developed on 25.59 acres of prime land in Ludhiana. A private building company, Today Homes, has been allocated the project by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust. The scam in which crore of rupees are alleged to have exchanged hands was exposed through a sting operation conducted by a private TV-news channel recently.

''This is the most prestigious project of Punjab and it will go on,'' the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Sukhbir Singh Badal, today demanded the registration of a case against the Chief Minister, Local Bodies Minister Ch Jagjit Singh and the owner of Today Homes, the firm which has won the contract to build the City Centre at Ludhiana.

Mr Badal told reporters that the Punjab Local Bodies Minister had cancelled the Local Bodies Secretary's order of annulling the agreement signed between the state government and Today Homes.

The Akali leader even alleged that the Chief Minister had threatened the five bidders for the project, including the DLF and EMAR, to withdraw their biddings for the City Centre to facilitate Today Homes, which and no experience in such a project.

UNI