Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Mar 1 : Much to the distress of the entrepreneurs, the new Industrial Estate in Qazigund area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district is still not functional despite the passage of 15 years since the project was approved.
The Estate was sanctioned by then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2004. Subsequently, spaces for nearly 133 units were demarcated with an aim to provide space for entrepreneurs in Anantnag district and its peripheries as industrial spaces dried up in the district. The facility, however, remained non-starter even after 15 years.
The entrepreneurs told Excelsior that the authorities took 14 years to make land allotments and they were asked to construct walls around their demarcated land in February last year. Within one week, they said, the decision was withdrawn. “The decision did not last long as we were asked not to construct the walls. After that they (authorities) started parking trucks in the land,” one of the unit holder said.
The unit holders raised the issue with the Deputy Commissioner whose intervention provided them a breather. “We were again allowed to resume work after his intervention. But we were asked to halt all constructions till August 15 for reasons better known to the authorities,” another unit holder said, adding the work remained suspended since August 5.
The unit holders lamented that they had been made to wait almost half their lives for this space and it was still incomplete. “For the last 15 years, I have been operating from rented accommodation with the hope that I will get my space in the Estate soon. But that soon is yet to arrive,” a biscuit manufacturer from Anantnag said.
General Manager SICOP for Anantnag, Mohammad Muzaffar, however, assured that the Estate would be functional within one month. “All the issues have been resolved. The facility would, hopefully, start functioning next month. The process got delayed due to the snowfall and we have already issued notices to unit holders to resume work,” he said.
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