*Govt nod to works up to Rs 3 lakh without tenders
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 10: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today brought Jammu City under Capital City Develop-ment Plan (CCDP) and announced funding of Rs 690 cores for the district under it. In addition, she announced special package of Rs 6.5 crore for 11 Assembly constituencies of Jammu district and Samba seat, whose some areas fall in Jammu district.
In another significant announcement, Mehbooba allowed departmental works up to Rs 3 lakh without tenders, acceding demand of the MLAs, who said small works in their constituencies were suffering as contractors were not coming forward for taking up such works.
These and other announcements were made by Mehbooba at the District Development Board (DDB) Jammu meeting, which was attended among others by Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, several Ministers, legislators etc. Dr Singh is chairman of the DDB Jammu.
Mehbooba announced Rs 690 cr for Jammu under CCDP, Rs 212 cr under District Sector Plan for 2017-18 and Rs 22 cr additionalities for current year.
As a special gesture towards development of 12 Assembly constituencies-11 in Jammu district and one in Samba district-for civic amenity works, which were suffering in the absence of elected Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats, the Chief Minister announced Rs 1 crore for RS Pura constituency and Rs 50 lakh each for rest of 11 Assembly segments to carry out small works like construction of lanes, drains, streets etc.
Mehbooba, who also holds charge of the Planning and Development Department, said RS Pura seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes and presently held by BJP’s Dr Gagan Bhagat, was being given Rs 1 crore special grant as against Rs 50 lakh for rest of the constituencies, as this segment was once represented by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Jammu district has 11 Assembly segments. However, some parts of Samba segment also falls in Jammu district. Therefore, total 12 constituencies would get Rs 6.5 crores worth special grant for development of civic amenities.
The grant was necessitated in the absence of elected Municipalities and Panchayats in the State, which used to carry out civic amenity works. As there were no elected local bodies, the Central Government has been denying funding, a result of which small works were suffering.
Majority of legislators present in the DDB meeting urged the Chief Minister to allow all Government departments to execute small developmental works up to Rs 5 lakh without tenders citing that contractors don’t take small works, which kept pending. She conceded the demand but fixed the amount at Rs 3 lakh.
With this, all departments now would be able to carry out works up to Rs 3 lakh departmentally without inviting tenders for them.
The Chief Minister announced special grant of Rs 1 crore for protection of river Tawi in Jammu.
In another step toward carrying forward the works pending under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNUURM), the Government has released Rs 15 crore for Jammu district to take the sewerage project forward by linking septic tanks with the underground pipes.
The Housing and Urban Development Department has projected before the Centre the sanction of one-time grant for Jammu and Srinagar cities to complete JNUURM works as the Central scheme of UPA Government has been abandoned by the NDA Government.
While the Centre approved grant for remaining work under JNUURM for Srinagar City, where 70 per cent work had been completed, the claim of Jammu was rejected, where only 48 per cent work was complete. The Centre had given funding to the States for JNUURM works, where 50 per cent work was complete.
The Government has now approved Rs 92 crores for the works pending under JNUURM of which Rs 15 crores were released today, sources said.
The Chief Minister announced development of Ragunath temple on the lines of Golden temple of Amritsar. Sources said entire traffic around the temple would be barred once the development project was complete and only battery cars will move on the roads.
Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, who holds charge of Housing and Urban Development Department, said the Old City would be converted into heritage City with no transport inside lanes, except battery cars. The project would be completed by 2020. There will be underground cabling of power, pedestrian walk way and all other facilities envisaged under the heritage cities.
Mehbooba Mufti announced setting up of PHE Motor Banks on the lines of Transformer Banks.
This, according to sources, will help in early repair of burnt motors of the PHE Department to ensure immediate resumption of water supply in the localities. Earlier, repair of motors consumed lot of time.
Sources said Mehbooba Mufti announced that she would shortly visit tourism related projects in Jammu including Mubarak Mandi, Suchetgarh, Chamliyal, Surinsar, Mansar etc to monitor their progress as she stressed upon the Government officers to stick to deadline for completion of all these projects. She directed the Floriculture Department to start landscaping and laying flower beds at Mubarak Mandi.
Sources said construction of roads and shortage of water supply figured prominently in the DDB meeting. The Chief Minister assured the MLAs that previous liabilities for construction of roads will be cleared shortly after which new works would be taken up. She directed the officers to explore possibilities of pumping additional water supply in the shortage-prone areas.
On demand for another Fly Over project from Ambphalla to BC Road, Mehbooba called upon the officers to work out project details. The Jammu City MLAs projected the demand for Fly Overs from Ambphalla to BC Road, Jewel to Canal Road and Convent School to Satwari Chowk. Work on the ongoing Fly Over from Bikram Chowk to Convent School is nearing completion.
An official handout said:-
The Chief Minister asked Chief Secretary B R Sharma to take up with NHAI the issues of providing more road furniture and emergency response equipment like ambulances on the newly constructed Jammu-Udhampur National highway patch and rehabilitation of vendors of Nandni who were dislocated due to road widening. She also directed ensuring availability of Urdu knowing teachers in the schools where ever needed besides undertaking a safety audit of all the school buildings.
Mehbooba directed the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu and IGP, Traffic to look into the issues of frequent traffic jamming in the city and submit their report within a week.
Mehbooba asked the Traffic Department to put in more manpower to clear traffic at the city’s critical points particularly during peak hours of morning and evening. She directed clearing of pavements to ensure pedestrian movement which would subsequently reduce the pressure on the roads.
Addressing meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh said the present Government has made it compulsory for the executing agencies to stick to the project completion deadlines and as a result many of the long pending projects have been put on track.
The Deputy Chief Minister described Mubarak Mandi heritage project as an important milestone in preserving the tradition and culture of the Jammu city.
Meanwhile, work on the Jammu semi ring road project would commence this year and the land acquisition process for the purpose is in the final stages. A Task Force headed by Divisional Commissioner, Jammu is supervising the process of acquisition of 367 hectares of land which is expected to be completed soon.
This was disclosed in the meeting of District Development Board.
The 57 kilometre long road from Raya More in Samba to Nagrota would be an all green project and is expected to take traffic load off the Jammu city.
Last month when the Chief Minister met Union Road Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari, the project got Central nod alongwith construction of Mughal Road tunnel and Vailoo-Singhpora tunnel.
The meeting was informed that in the Jammu district 1329 kilometres of road length was black topped during the last year.
In the power sector, the meeting was informed that 300 megawatts of capacity was added to the circuit with various augmentations and this year with the upgradation of Gangyal and Ban grid stations another 100 megawatt capacity would be added.
The Chief Minister directed involving local MLAs in the formulation of development plans of the concerned areas.
In the Urban Development sector 27 projects worth Rs. 206 crore have been planned in sewerage, drainage, parking and other sectors which are in various stages of completion. Like Srinagar, the DPR for Rs. 3960 crore Smart City project for Jammu is being submitted to Centre for approval, the meeting was told. A state of the Art Solid Waste Management plant would be set up at Kot Balwal over 362 kanals of land, the meeting was told.
In the health sector, the meeting was informed that 43 projects are underway including 200 bedded maternity Hospital at Gandhi Nagar, Sub District Hospitals at Jorian, Bishnah, Akhnoor and Khour and an Ayurvedic College at Akhnoor and Accidental Hospital at Chowki Chora. Many of these projects are expected to be completed during 2017-18.
The Chief Minister enquired about the status of Rs. 32 crore Akhnoor Hospital and directed the early closure of the project. She also directed completion of land acquisition process for the upcoming AIIMS at Jammu and process of construction on new Medical Colleges in the province.
The meeting was informed that 19 tube wells with a discharge of nine Million Gallons Daily are being dug by the ERA in the district and are expected to be commissioned this year only.
A rose garden is planned to be developed by the Floriculture Department in the winter capital and the flower growers in the city are being given loans to pick up the trade, the meeting was informed. Besides, work on the Jammu Ropeway and Musical Fountain at Bagh-e-Bahu have been paced up and are expected to be completed by 2017-18.
Mehbooba Mufti directed converting all green spaces into parks and creation of more green cover in the Jammu city. She also directed speeding up of work on Suchetgarh tourism project so that the tourist footfall in the area is enhanced.
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