‘Will work to preserve city’s heritage character, for overall development’

Kapurthala’s first woman mayor Kulwant Kaur, who recently took charge of the first house of the municipal corporation (MC), entered politics in 2013 after her councillor husband Bakshish Singh passed away. The city was upgraded from municipal council in 2019. Kaur, a second-time councillor who owes allegiance to the state’s ruling Congress, defeated Malkiat Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)) by 1,070 votes from ward number 3. Her family is considered close to Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh. Hindustan Times spoke to her to know about her vision and plans for the development of the city.

What are your plans for the city?

I will work for an overall development such as a proper drainage system, streetlights and good roads in all the wards of the city without any discrimination. Funds have already been allocated for the sewerage projects in the city. Besides, Rs 90 lakh has been earmarked to install CCTV cameras in the city for the safety of residents. Under the leadership of Rana Gurjit Singh (MLA), we will be constructing concrete roads in residential areas. We want to develop Kapurthala in a way that people from adjoining districts like Jalandhar wish to settle here.

What will you do to boost tourism in the heritage city?

Several heritage buildings are situated in the city. We will prepare plans to preserve the city’s heritage character. The Punjab government has issued grant for the renovation of Sainik School and others heritage buildings.

Besides, we will take up matter with the state tourism and culture department to promote tourism in the city.

The city faces issues of solid waste management and sewage treatment.

Kapurthala has been facing the issue of solid waste management in the absence of a single place where we can collect the city’s garbage. We are planning to identify a chunk of land where we can collect and segregate garbage of the entire city to properly manage the solid waste. We will also fix the issue of sewage treatment so that untreated waste is not discharged into the holy Kali Bein.

Does the MC have enough funds for development projects?

The municipal corporation has no shortage of funds as the state government has been allocating grants for various projects to the civic body. We have sufficient funds to manage daily expenses and pay salaries of employees besides meeting other commitments.