The Punjab Government has granted urban local bodies powers to sanction projects worth up to Rs 10 lakh, reversing its earlier decision of seeking approval from it.For projects worth over Rs 10 lakh, the approval has to be sought from the state government. Till now, the state’s 167 civic bodies were required to seek approval from the government, with the Local Bodies Department Secretary and the minister having the sanctioning powers.A senior official said the decision came as a number of resolutions passed by the civic bodies across the state remained pending for clearance. “Now, an effort has been made to enable the urban local bodies to deal with issues at their own level,” said the official.As per the orders issued by the department, resolutions for the transfer of properties to other departments, perks of mayors and presidents of municipal councils are among the issues to be dealt at the state-level.The municipal commissioners, ADCs (General) and executive officers have been made responsible for putting up resolutions for approval before the government after proper verification.