Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Apr 28: In a significant development, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh today directed the officers to prepare an inventory of the land under the possession and jurisdiction of Jammu Development Authority within 15 days besides getting FIR registered against former Vice-Chairman of the JDA, Mohd Aslam Qureshi, who is accused of making illegal allotment of 295 plots and commercial sites to favourites.
Decisions in this regard were taken during 77th meeting of the JDA Board of Directors, held here today under the chairmanship of Dr Nirmal Singh, who holds the portfolio of Housing and Urban Development Department.
Asking the authorities to ensure registration of FIR against the then VC, the meeting of Board of Directors, however, decided to take a lenient view on the 295 controversial allottees, who were given plots and commercial sites after payment of the same, official sources informed the Excelsior.
For necessary action against the accused ex VC, the Commissioner/ Secretary Housing and Urban Development, Hirdesh Kumar Singh has been asked to monitor progress of the case and ensure that the guilty may be punished as per law of the land, sources added.
It may be recalled that the then Vice-Chairman of JDA, Mohd Aslam Qureshi, during his tenure from November 2001 to June 2003, had made allotment of 295 plots and commercial sites to favorites, including the influential politicians and bureaucrats by throwing all the norms to the winds. However, those who committed this illegal act, remained unpunished so far. The issue had come under discussion in the 74th meeting of JDA Board of Directors, held last year under the chairmanship of Dr Nirmal Singh who took serious note of ignoring of bungling in JDA and had decided to conduct detailed inquiry through high-ranking officers after seeking opinion from the Law Department.
According to the sources, privy to the Board meeting today, the Deputy CM took serious note of the encroachment of the JDA land and said that the same should be dealt with strictly. He also took Legal Wing of the JDA to task for its alleged failure in projecting its view point on various fora, including the court.
The DyCM ordered preparation of an inventory of the land belonging to JDA, within 15 days and told the concerned officers that they should not wait for the next Board meeting to complete the exercise in this regard, sources informed.
Pertinent to mention that the Jammu Development Authority has an approximate area of 75000 kanals under its jurisdiction whereas only 17000 kanal was actually handed over to it. The Development Authority is unaware of the exact status vis-à-vis the land belonging to it and under its possession.
The Board of Directors meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Housing & Urban Development, Asiea Naqash, Financial Commissioner, Planning and Development Department, B B Vyas, Finance Secretary/ Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Navin K Choudhary, Divisional Kashmir Jammu, Dr Pawan Kotwal, Commissioner Secretary, Housing and Urban Department, Hridesh Kumar Singh, Vice Chairman, JDA Mubarak Singh, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Simrandeep Singh, Jt Commissioner JMC, R S Jamwal, Chief Engineer R&B, Chief Architect J&K, Chief Town Planner Jammu and other senior officers..
According to an official spokesman, the Deputy Chief Minister, while chairing the meeting, asked the officers to ensure time bound completion of various prestigious projects undertaken in Jammu and said that regular meetings should also be held in order to remove the bottlenecks, if any, to speed up the pace of work. He said by doing so they would be getting regular feedback about the status of implementation of these works ensuring their speedy completion.
While reviewing the development of Tawi river front project, Dr Singh asked the officers to ensure its speedy completion as it is one of the most important beautification projects of the city besides ensuring that the river embankments are properly strengthened. He said that the pre feasibility report and a detailed project report have been formulated and the officers should work in close coordination with the concerned for ensuring its timely completion.
The Deputy Chief Minister also reviewed the Modernization/ Development of general Bus-stand/multi level car parking cum shopping complex coming up at the general Bus-stand and directed the officers to ensure its time bound completion. He said the shopkeepers, who are getting displaced on account of the project, should be adequately rehabilitated by constructing new shops at ISBT Narwal within two months and handing over the same to them.
The MoS Housing & Urban Development Department, Asiea Naqash, while speaking on the occasion, called for concerted efforts for speeding up the developmental projects besides checking illegal constructions and encroachments. She said that the officers of the different wings of the organization should work in tandem to ensure timely completion of various initiatives which would go a long way in ensuring beautification of the city besides providing people the much needed housing and other related facilities.
The meeting also discussed various other issues like construction of flatted accommodation at Muthi, regularization of the services of the employees working in the organization, providing of police contingent to the JDA for anti encroachment drives, strengthening and reorganization of engineering wing in JDA, etc.
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