NBCC fails Nobra tourism

It is almost become ritualistic for developmental projects executing agencies to assume undue importance when asked to undertake prestigious work in a rather inhospitable environs. We find no reason why tourism developmental projects worth 16 crore rupees in Leh, sanctioned out of Prime Ministers Development Package of  80,000 crore rupees for J&K are not taken up by the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC). This Corporation is an enterprise of the Government of India and that is surprising. Moreover when the sites have been identified and advance funds for survey and preliminary study have already been released,
The breakup of the tourism development plan submitted by the State Government for development of tourism in Nobra valley in Ladakh already stands approved. It has to be reminded that Nobra is of much strategic importance in Ladakh as it is close to our border with China. In strategic terms, linkages in Nobra are crucial and that aspect cannot be ignored in any case, The breakup of the Nobra tourism project has already been approved by the Union Ministry of Tourism, Roughly speaking, the breakup is as this.  Projects amounting to Rs 16 crore have been sanctioned for promotion of tourist related activities under PMDP for Nobra constituency, which include wayside amenities at Khardung village at the cost of Rs 1.68 crore, wayside amenities at Skuru village at a cost of Rs 1.58 crore, development of tourist facilities at Nobra-Turtuk at a cost of Rs 9.58 crore and development of tourist facilities on Leh-Nobra road up to Hunder at a cost of Rs 3.42 crore. Apart from this the Leh Tourism Development Authority has identified some more projects that would make Nobra very attractive to the tourists,
In a meeting of the senior bureaucrats held recently, the Chief Minister had emphasized that no laxity will be allowed in implementing the projects especially the Centrally sponsored projects. She had impressed upon all departments to coordinate their activities and ensure that projects of vital importance were completed within time frame. On the ground, the situation is not precisely what the chief minister has expressed. The Chief Executive Officer of Ladakh Tourism Authority said that the Authority had performed its duty of identifying the sites and now the ball was in the court of NBCC.
We have reports that the NBCC, on much insistence of the State Government has conducted some survey work in the month of April and left the job there. Now that the month of June is also closing, there is no movement whatsoever on the projects. It has to be reminded that in Ladakh  there are only one half of the working days available in comparison to what  is available in the plains, For more than six months Ladakh remains cut off from the rest of the State owing to the closure of the roads which get a heavy snowfall. And when June is already over and we have hardly two months of work left, it is somewhat difficult to imagine that the Nobra tourism project will see the light of the day. We had been accusing state agencies of delaying the work on vital projects but with the experience that we have now of a central enterprise dilly-dallying the Nobra tourism project disproves our theory that only the State agencies have got the habit of delaying execution of projects.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here