Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, July 23: NPP MLA and its chairman Harshdev Singh has alleged total collapse of Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) in the State and the resultant failure of dozens of mega projects under taken by the said agency for execution.
In a statement today he said that ERA was entrusted with the task of execution of several mega roads, bridges and sewerage, drainage and channelization projects funded under Asian Development Bank (ADB) scheme but regretted that majority of said schemes had been abandoned or left half done.
Making special mention of Bani-Daggar road, Doda-Bharat road, Udhampur-Ramnagar road, Kalai-Saki Maidan raod, he said these roads were the worst victims of official apathy and red tape. He said these roads were taken up for construction in 2006-07 but were either incomplete or had been abandoned thus providing the most galsing instance of abuse of public resources. Likewise, several sewerage and drainage projects sanctioned under ADB and taken up by ERA had also met the same fate. He said that work on the ‘Channelization and rehabilitation of primary drains’ was abandoned midway with old Jammu city, Patta Bohri area having been completely ignored and work on Janipur Nallah having been left half done. He said that there was lot of resentment in Shakti Nagar, Subash Nagar, Rajpura and the adjoining area of cremation ground which were ignored under the Janipur Nala Scheme of ADB.
Mr. Singh said that all the said schemes had been funded under Loan I Scheme of ADB, the term of which had already expired. He said that non-completion of majority of the projects had deprived the public of the benefits envisaged under the said scheme for which accountability was required to be fixed and guilty brought to book. He further pointed out lapses and apathetic approach of the ERA in construction work on Bikram Chowk flyover scheme sanctioned at a cost of Rs 65 crore under Loan II of ADB, the foundation of which was laid on May 26 this year. He regretted that the construction activity had been initiated at the time of laying of foundation stone but suspended immediately thereafter for reasons best known to ERA.
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