The Punjab government on Friday accorded formal approval to the development of two new urban estates at Pathankot and Hoshiarpur in the state.
A decision to this effect was taken in the 41st meeting of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) under the chairmanship of Punjab CM, Parkash Singh Badal. A spokesman of the Punjab government said a green signal has been given to the acquisition of 200 acre at Pathankot and 140 acre at Hoshiarpur for the development of these urban estates. The state government had decided to acquire the said land under the Land Pooling Scheme. Under this scheme, both the options (land against compensation and land against land) would be offered to the land owners of the land being acquired at Pathankot and Hoshiarpur.
50% of the total area acquired in each urban estate would be utilised for the development of roads, parks, public utilities and parking area and 5% would be reserved for providing houses to the economically weaker sections (EWS).
The government had also approved the budget estimates of PUDA for the year 2010-11. Budget provides for an estimated expenditure of Rs 17.60 crore on the construction of EWS houses during the year.