Holds public durbar, flags off ambulance
Avtar Bhat
RAMBAN, Oct 19 : Union Minister in PMO with independent charge of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that Ramban had to wait for 50 long years for Narendra Modi to get rail connectivity with Jammu.
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Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a public durbar, the Union Minister said though train reached Jammu in 1972 but the earlier UPA Government did not move the railway track beyond Jammu and people of Ramban had to wait for five decades to get railway connectivity.
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He said a small township Sangaldan in Ramban which earlier did not have a road connection has now emerged an important railway junction as the Vande Bharat and other trains stop here.
He said in coming years the Ramban will emerge as an important business hub as it will be connecting place between two capitals of J&K Srinagar and Jammu after the Expressway Corridor between holy town of Katra and Delhi starts functioning in March next year. This will help in flourishing of trade and tourism in the district, he added.
The Union Minister said with the construction of Expressway corridor and completion of National Highway to Srinagar the travel from Ramban to Jammu will be reduced to two and half hours and to Srinagar it will be of two hours. He said even travel from Ramban to Delhi will be of seven and half hours after the Expressway Corridor becomes functional.
Dr Jitendra Singh said “The people of our generation had never expected that train will come to Ramban and it was much surprising for the people of my generation to see the train moving to Srinagar via Ramban but the credit for this all goes to Modi”.
He said the Sawlakot Hydro Electric Project has been given sanction and the work on this project will begin soon. He gave credit to authorities who worked hard in getting clearance of this project saying that besides, boosting the power generation in the UT, it will create employment avenues for local people.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the people whose houses were damaged in the district during recent cloudburst and flash floods will be rehabilitated at an alternative place. He said the administration will try to motivate them that the place where they are residing at present is vulnerable and unsafe.
He said as they have got attachment with their native place and are not willing to leave their area but efforts are afoot to shift them to safe and alternative place, he added.
Earlier, the Minister held a public durbar as part of his ongoing outreach campaign to engage directly with the people in his Parliamentary constituency.
Interacting with a host of public delegations hailing from different parts of the district including villages, the Minister gave a patient hearing to their concerns. The deputations aired their grievances and put forth their demands regarding developmental and rehabilitation issues.
Following Dr Jitendra Singh’s intervention, many issues were resolved on-the-spot. Dr Jitendra Singh issued immediate instructions to the officers of the concerned departments to resolve the remaining public issues in a time-bound manner.
The public delegations complimented Dr Jitendra Singh for directly engaging with them to listen to their grievances.
Among the diverse delegations, for example, a deputation from village Sana sought relief and rehabilitation measures for families affected by recent landslides. Contractors executing works under the District Plan, including the District Capex Budget, Jal Jeevan Mission, and other schemes, raised the issue of pending payments for completed projects. Similarly, deputations from Rajgarh and Boli Bazar highlighted the need for timely rehabilitation and protection works in flood-affected areas.
Various other delegations also put forth demands for expediting ongoing developmental projects and initiating new works to address local needs and improve infrastructure across the district.
The public durbar was attended by local MLA Arjun Singh Raju; DDC Chairperson, Shamshad Shan, BJP district president, Neelam Langeh; DDC members Renuka Katoch, Bashir Naik, Balbir Singh, Rakesh Thakur, Jagveer Das, Shamim Akhtar, prominent local leaders Gurdip Singh and Salim Bhat among others. The district administration was led by Deputy Commissioner, Mohammad Alyas Khan and SSP Arun Gupta as well as officers from NHAI, NHPC, all the major Government departments.
Today’s public durbar was held in the wake of recent floods in many districts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Ramban was among the districts which bore the brunt of the torrential rainfall-induced flash floods. Roads and other public infrastructure in many villages of Ramban have suffered massive damages. Power and water supply remained affected in several places.
The Minister informed that the district administration would identify alternative places for a permanent resettlement of the population of ecologically-vulnerable places in the district. He said the residents of these areas face a constant threat during natural disasters like the recent floods. The Minister informed that restoration work on the damaged stretches of the Jammu-Srinagar Highway has nearly been completed.
Earlier, in response to public demand in the wake of recent flash floods, from his MP Fund, the Union Minister flagged off an advanced life support ambulance for the district. It is pertinent to mention that the Minister has donated Rs 80 lakh from his MPLAD fund for the Hospital on Wheels ambulance. It is aimed at bringing quality healthcare to the doorsteps of citizens in remote parts of the district.
The Minister highlighted the achievements of district Ramban in healthcare. He said it has achieved full saturation under PM-JAY. Now, PM-JAY 2.O would be launched in the district. He also informed that Ramban has become the first district in J&K which has achieved 100 per cent screening for all patients of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
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