The Punjab Government on Sunday approved a Rs 8,745 crore total revamp plan, under the Punjab Urban Development Mission (PUDM), to upgrade all civic amenities in all the 142 cities of the State.

To be done on an integrated turnkey basis, a single agency would now provide the facilities with a mandate to maintain them in top condition for the next 10-15 years.

Traces of uranium and other radioactive, heavy metals have been found in the groundwater in Punjab, the Government has said.

Belying claims of the state government of providing clean drinking water in the state, particularly in the cancer-hit Malwa region, data from the Department of Public Health reveals that only about

Scores of landowners, whose land is set to be acquired for the proposed Sangrur bypass, have allegedly discovered that the map of the proposed alignment shown to them in Sangrur SDM’s office was di

After tasting success in Punjab, the Progressive Dairy Farmer—an association of farmers with about 6,000 members—is planning to promote commercial dairy farming in other states. Taking a step forward in this direction, the association has formed the All India Progressive Dairy Farmers Association and has plans to provide dairy farmers technical know-how in setting up commercial dairy and other relevant information.

It is worth noting that with 6,000 odd commercial dairy farms, Punjab is fast emerging as a model for other states. Speaking to Business Standard, Dr Jaswinder Singh Bhatti, technical coordinator, Progressive Dairy Farmers Association, said, “ Progressive dairy farming in Punjab is a huge success and a role model for other states.

The Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) is contemplating the introduction of a two-part tariff in electricity for retail supply consumers except agricultural pumpset consumers, temporary supply consumers and public lighting. The proposed move would not only help the state power utility to raise additional revenue, which has already invested significant amount in transmission network, but also strengthen its existing network.

The state has, at present, a single part tariff policy. In a two-part tariff policy, the consumer would have to pay fixed charges, based on the sanctioned load or contract demand of the consumer besides variable charges, based on the actual consumption of power.

The Punjab government on Sunday sought a Rs 800-crore interim relief package from the Centre expressing its anxiety over the drought-like situation in the State.

The State also sought 1000 mw additional power allocation from the Central pool in lieu of extra money being spent by the State government on purchase of power for the agriculture sector besides additional cost of diesel borne by farmers for irrigation of paddy crop, in view of “deficient and erratic monsoon.

The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, on Tuesday approved the Rs 10,300-crore Ludhiana Metro project which will be completed in five years.

Chandigarh The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) on Monday announced an average tariff hike of 12.08%, which would be levied on consumers retrospectively from April 1, 2012.

PSERC chairperson Romila Dubey said the hike for domestic consumers who consume less than 100 units would be 53 paise a unit, for consumers using 101 to 300 units, the tariff would be R5.49 paise a unit up from earlier R4.96 paise per unit. Above 300 units, it would be R5.81 paise per unit from the earlier R5.23 paise.

Even as he accepted Punjab’s case for enhanced allocation to augment the rural water supply system, as it faces the problem of presence of uranium, arsenic, and heavy metals in ground water used for drinking, Union Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday advised the State government to introspect and analyse its performance record on utilisation of previous grants for the purpose.