Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday announced development projects worth ₹18.57 crore for Phagwara while addressing a large gathering during the Aam Aadmi Party’s Lok Milni programme held at Gandhi Chowk amid unprecedented security arrangements across the city.
The Chief Minister reached Gandhi Chowk in the evening and interacted with residents, party workers and local representatives. He announced a development package of ₹18.57 crore for the constituency. The projects include ₹1.20 crore for the installation of five tubewells, ₹5.91 crore for the improvement of key roads, including Palahi-Hoshiarpur Road, Railway Road and the Sukhchain Nagar-Chandigarh Highway link road, ₹5.21 crore for the construction and upgrading of roads connecting Gandwan, Sugar Mill Road, Urban Estate, Dosanjh Kalan, Hargobind Nagar and Chahal Nagar, ₹87 lakh for the Heritage Street project at Gurdwara Sukhchain Sahib, ₹2 crore for the construction of a rose garden, ₹2.19 crore for urban street development works, ₹97 lakh for streetlighting projects and additional grants of ₹30 lakh each for development works in Athouli village and other civic improvement projects.
Earlier in the day, Phagwara remained under a heavy security blanket ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit. The police installed barricades at several major entry points and roads, including Gandhi Chowk, Bazaar Bansanwala, Loha Mandi Road, Railway Road and Sarai Road. The restrictions significantly affected normal movement within the city, while many markets witnessed low business activity as shopkeepers complained of reduced customer footfall and traffic disruptions.
Simultaneously, members of the BKU (Doaba), who had threatened to block the passage of the CM, assembled at Dana Mandi and sought an audience with the Chief Minister over pending sugarcane dues amounting to nearly ₹28 crore allegedly owed by sugar mill at Phagwara. Farmer leaders urged the district administration to arrange a meeting with Mann and warned of agitation if their grievances remained unaddressed. They were given an assurance of a meeting after the CM’s rally.
In another development, the police placed Divyang Action Committee state president Lakhvir Singh Saini and the organisation’s women’s wing president Davinder Kaur under house arrest after they announced plans to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister regarding issues affecting differently abled persons.
MC officials and employees remained engaged throughout the day in preparations for the programme, while PSPCL teams made contingency arrangements to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply. Hoshiarpur MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, along with Mayor Ram Paul Uppal and other local leaders, supervised the preparations at the venue.
Prominent leaders present at the programme included Chabbewal, AAP district Kapurthala in-charge Sarbjit Singh Lubana, Improvement Trust Chairman Jarnail Nangal, Mayor Uppal, BC Wing Zone president Daljit Singh Raju and senior AAP leader Santosh Gogi.
