Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 24: Flagging energy as a key sector in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today called for a comprehensive roadmap for augmenting the State’s power scenario by strengthening the generation and distribution network.
Speaking at a meeting convened this morning to take first hand appraisal of the power and water supply position in Jammu region, in view of the sweltering heat wave conditions prevailing here, the Chief Minister asked the Power Development Department (PDD) to avoid unscheduled power cuts especially during the peak hours so that people are not put to any inconvenience. She said the consumers should be informed in advance about the power curtailment schedule, if any to be implemented, during any exigencies.
Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Choudhary was also present in the meeting.
The Chief Minister also stressed on better synergy between PDD and PHE to avoid system breakdown which often leads to disruption of water supply in and around the city. She asked PDD to install additional capacitors and transformers where-ever required to avoid system breakdown. She called for removal of the illegal power connections, if any, from the dedicated PHE feeders which is one of the major causes for system breakdown due to overload. She also sought cooperation of the people in this regard.
The Chief Minister called for expediting works under R-APDRP (Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme) to augment the power supply position in the State.
The Chief Minister asked the executing agency IRCON to carry out works in double-shift to ensure completion of the project ahead of the schedule time-frame of March 2017. “RAPDRP has already missed the deadline and the thrust should be on completing the project ahead of the fresh deadline of March 2017,” she maintained.
She said implementation of RAPDRP will go a long way in improving the power supply position in the State, where the consumers are put to immense inconvenience because of distress cuts and low voltage. “While the people are facing lot of inconvenience due to power outages during sweltering summer heat in Jammu region, those in Kashmir are facing similar hardships during harsh winters,” she said and added that implementation of RAPDRP would to a great extent streamline the power distribution mechanism in the State.
Regarding the issue of daily-rated workers, the Chief Minister said the Government has already constituted a high-level committee for compiling the data of all such workers through Aadhaar-based mechanism to take a call on the issue.
While taking a detailed review of the developmental projects underway in Jammu city, the Chief Minister was informed that the issue of rehabilitation of shopkeepers affected due to execution of the multi-layer parking project and renovation of the Bus Stand being executed at a cost of Rs 202 crore has been resolved and the project is underway smoothly.
Regarding the issue of encroachments and rehabilitation of vendors in Jammu city, the Deputy Commissioner informed that an action plan is being chalked out in coordination with Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to rehabilitate the displaced vendors at a suitable place. He said a massive anti-encroachment drive has been launched in Jammu city and the national highway has been cleared of the encroachments.
The Chief Minister asked the DC Jammu and Commissioner JMC to expedite the process of registration of bonafide vendors so that they are suitably rehabilitated and can carry out their business activities in a particular zone without causing any hassles in the smooth movement of traffic.
Stressing on improving the civic amenities in Jammu city, the Chief Minister said that more parking facilities need to be created in the city to address the issue of traffic congestion. She called for taking up a parking project at Panjtirthi.
She said renovation and landscaping of the historic Mubarak Mandi complex should be expedited to make it an attractive destination for locals and tourists. She also called for taking steps for improving waste management in Jammu city as also in Katra which witnesses huge influx of pilgrims.
She directed for starting an exclusive bus service for the female commuters.
Earlier, while apprising the meeting about the present power scenario in Jammu region, Principal Secretary PDD, Mr Dheeraj Gupta said during the current year the power supply has increased by 15% and various system constraints have been taken care of to improve supply position.
While presenting an overview of the water supply scenario in Jammu city, Commissioner Secretary PHE, Sanjeev Varma informed the meeting that against the total requirement of 47.5MGD for Jammu city, the PHE Department is supplying 45.5MGD. He said in order to meet the shortfall of 2.00 MGD, 19 tube-wells are under execution by ERA which on completion by December 2016 would substantially augment the water supply in the city.
While giving an overview of the traffic scenario in Jammu city, the IGP Jammu, Danish Rana and IGP Traffic informed that traffic movement increases in the city in the wake of tourist inflow and Yatra and the additional workforce has been deployed to streamline the traffic.
Among others the meeting was attended by Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Dr Pawan Kotwal, DIG Traffic Viplav Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Dr Simrandeep Singh, Vice Chairman Jammu Development Authority Mubarak Singh, Chief Engineers of PHE, PDD and other senior officers.
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