GMADA prepares ₹105cr estimates for development works

MOHALI: Acting on the Supreme Court directions, Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has prepared estimates of around ₹105 crore for internal development works in Mohali’s Sectors 100 and 104, which comprise the Pearl City project.

The fate of around 1,300 allottees of Pearl City has been hanging in balance since 2014 after its chairman-cum-managing director Nirmal Singh Bhangoo was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a ₹45,000-crore Ponzi scam. The central agency had also attached all properties of Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited (PACL), including the mega project launched in 2006.

Around 160 families reside in both sectors, spread over 450 acres, where people have invested around ₹600 crore. Yet the sectors do not have a sewerage system, proper roads and streetlights.

On March 4 this year, acting on the petition filed by the Pearl City Mohali Residents’ Welfare Association, the apex court had directed GMADA to prepare a detailed estimate plan for internal development works in the two sectors . During the hearing, the court also asked the association to submit the details of members with pending payments and other related documents.

Internal development comprises construction of internal roads, laying of sewerage lines, landscaping, electrification, construction of sewage treatment plant and water supply lines.

A senior GMADA official said: “Around ₹26 crore will be spent on roads, ₹21 crore on electrification and ₹55 crore on public health. We will submit the estimates during the next hearing, and the court will decide from where to get the funds. One option is collection of balance amount from the allottees.”