Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 16: The remarks of Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed and Dy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh on shelving Tawi lake project and AIIMS only for Kashmir have invited strong reaction from the Jammu Chamber and other organizations.
Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Jammu in an urgent meeting held today at Chamber House under the presidentship of Rakesh Gupta, took serious view of the statement issued by the Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed ruling out the sanction of AIIMS for Jammu and also the decision of shelving the project of artificial lake due to non- feasibility. The Chamber expressed deep anguish and concern on these two decisions mentioned by the Chief Minister and his Deputy which have been made without any proper survey and application of mind.
In the first instance, the sanctioning of AIIMS for Jammu is a Central subject, hence the CM should not have deliberated upon the said issue. In the second instance, regarding shelving of artificial lake project in Jammu stating the reason as non-feasibility, the Chamber expects the Chief Minister to come out with the facts and figures and the balance sheets of various projects of the Government / Corporations / J&K Government. The Chamber feels that all the major projects run by the Government are already running into losses including the fiscal position of the State Government. The Chamber questions to the State Government as to who did the survey earlier to check the feasibility of the Tawi Artificial Lake project. The major funds for all the State Government projects are mostly provided by Government of India.
The Chamber also questioned the BJP which is part and parcel of this Coalition Government to come clean and transparent on both the issues of AIIMS and artificial lake. At the same time the Chamber appealed to the business community and also the civil society of Jammu and the people at large to be mentally prepared for a big agitation to get justice for Jammu region.
Meanwhile, pitching for exploiting tourist potential of Jammu province, senior BJP leader Yudhvir Sethi said the region has vast potential for attracting national and international tourists and prestigious projects which have been envisaged should be completed at the earliest, adding that once these projects are developed the tourism industry of the region would get the much needed impetus.
He said every year lakhs of devotees come for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, Buddha Amarnath, Mela Baba Jitto and other such pilgrim destinations. With the development of independent tourist destinations in the region visiting tourists would further extend their stay and the local tourism industry would get fillip, he added.
Underscoring on the need to fast track the prestigious tourism projects, Sethi said Artificial Lake on river Tawi, Gandola ropeway project and development of Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex are some of the projects which would give a new lease of life to the city and the region on the whole. He said special initiatives have to be taken so as to launch project for cleaning, landscaping and beautification of the Tawi. He said artificial lake is long pending demand of the locals and the same should be taken up on the lines the Sabarmati river as being developed in Gujarat.
All Jammu Hotels & Lodges Association has questioned the Coalition Government headed by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to define their agenda of good governance and transparency during their rule as nothing of the sort has appeared on the ground in their two months rule so far.
Speaking in a meeting, president Inderjeet Khajuria felt offended over the Mufti’s press interaction, where he declared shelving of prestigious artificial lake project in Jammu on flimsy ground. Artificial lake project was started during 2010-11 and whooping Rs 60 crore stands spent taking the project to nearing completion but for construction of 17 diversion channels. Referring to the recent meeting of Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Kumar Singh with Union Resources Minister, Uma Bharti pressing her for extending support for completion of river Tawi artificial lake project, Mr Khajuria sought clarification from him (Deputy Chief Minister) about his stand as he too was present in the press conference. Mr Mufti is treading strictly only a hidden agenda of pleasing every stakeholder including militants at the cost of Jammu for gaining political mileage.
Speaking further Khajuria said that in view of economic hardship coupled with adverse factors, train-link extension Katra being one, tourism related Jammu traders have been day dreaming the early completion of this prestigious project to make Jammu as attraction for tourists to make as independent destination as less than 2% of pilgrims/tourists out of more than one crore bound for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine touch Jammu. Mufti has further befooled Jammuites to develop banks of Jammu Tawi instead of artificial lake, which is next to impossible as the Tawi banks included Tawi bed at places has already been encroached upon.
Mr Khajuria warned Mufti Sayeed of consequences of shelving the project for no valid reason under a hidden agenda to harm Jammu. He said that the lake project was started only after getting required clearance and completion of all the required formalities and was supposed to be completed in December 2015. Others who expressed their views included Pawan Gupta, Baldev Raj, Harbans Singh, Rajesh Gupta, Vinod Jandial, ML Sharma, Gurdarshan Singh, Varinder Gupta and Amjad Afridi.
Senior Congress leader Mohinder Bhardwaj has expressed surprise and anguish on Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s statement indicating scrapping of the ambitious project relating to an artificial lake on Tawi river on the plea that it was not viable. At the same time he expressed shock on Mr Sayeed’s blunt stand in point blank refusing AIIMS for Jammu.
He demanded that Deputy Chief Minister Mr Nirmal Singh should publically clear his and his party’s stand on the AIIMS and Tawi lake projects. “It is feared that the BJP high command has compromised on the interests of Jammu region to placate Mr Sayeed and Mr Singh and other local BJP leaders have become a tool in the hands of the high command”, Mr Bhardwaj added.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel