Mehbooba flags issues for proper, planned city growth

CM chairs review meeting of DDB Srinagar

Terms Srinagar JK’s pride, soul; directs demarcation of city’s water bodies immediately

Also directs DPR preparation for constructing Mini Secretariat at Batamaloo

Srinagar, October 04: Terming Srinagar as the pride of Jammu & Kashmir, Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today flagged issues like urban mobility, disaster management, environmental awareness and protection of water bodies and solid waste management to be addressed for a proper and planned growth of the city.

Addressing the review meeting of District Development Board, Srinagar here today, the Chief Minister directed the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir for demarcating boundaries of important water bodies of the city like Gile Sar, Khushal Sar, Brar i Nambal  and others at the earliest. She asked the Urban Development Secretary to take restoration of these water bodies on priority which provide an aesthetic cushion to city life. She expressed dismay over the condition of Dal lake and other water bodies and said that given the condition of the lake, she has decided to take a review of its cleaning and de weeding every 10 days.

In a significant direction to de congest the city, Mehbooba Mufti, who is also chairperson of the Board, directed setting up of a Mini Secretariat at the old Batamaloo Bus stand and asked the concerned to prepare a DPR for the same. She expressed dismay that a large number of offices of district administration are scattered across the city which ought to be brought under one roof. She said with the setting up of these offices at one place, many areas of the city would be de congested and on the other hand people would be having all the offices at one place as well.

Terming Srinagar as the soul of State’s civic life, the Chief Minister also flagged issues like handicraft promotion and artisan welfare for restoring the city the name it has been recognized for centuries. She directed Director, EDI to hold camps for artisans and persons connected with handicrafts for giving the industry a breather and stability to the local economy. She directed upgradation of old markets of Zainakadal, Bohri Kadal and Maharaj Gunj as heritage markets.

On the issues of day to day life, Mehbooba Mufti directed the PDD to speed up work on the Alestaing receiving station, which on operation would stabilize the electric load of a major area of downtown Srinagar. She also directed providing electricity to Ghani Memorial, Radpora and Gindun(Rajbagh) stadia in the evenings so that youth can play till late hours besides she also directed uninterrupted power supply for street lighting in the city. She also directed setting up of a transformer bank during winters for which she appealed the legislators also to cooperate.

The Chief Minister also directed pacing up of work on the renovation and beatification of Ziayarat Dastgeer sahib (R.A.) at Khanyar and Hazrat Shah i Hamdan (R.A.) at Khankah i Moalla and Imambara at Zadibal.

In a major direction, Mehbooba Mufti directed slapping Public Safety Act against those found involved in the sale of spurious drugs. She also directed that the medicine and drugs be made available to patients at the hospitals even as she asked the Health Department to bring an upgradation and beautification proposal for city hospitals  for her consideration.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister held extensive interfacing sessions of concerned officers with the members of the Board during which the legislators put across their issues and problems for early redressal.

Legislators, cutting across party affiliations, hailed the Chief Minister for the interface which enabled them to push their problems and seek their redressal appropriately.

The meeting was informed that the Special Purpose Vehicle for the Srinagar Smart City has been constituted and the first installment of Rs. 200 crore under the projects is expected anytime now. Also some mega projects like Rambagh flyover, Grade separator at TRC, etc are in various stages of completion and many major projects like 45 MLD Tangnar Water Supply Scheme, Bemina college and Cluster University building, 18 small or medium bridges etc are being inaugurated soon.

The meeting was also informed that 10 community halls and five basketball courts are under various stages of completion in the main city. Also 6200 new street lights are being set up and 15 fountains have been made functional in various areas of the city, the meeting was informed.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed gave a presentation of various developmental activities in the district. He said by the end of September, 2017, 86% of the budgetary allocation for the district stands expended.

Minister for Education, Syed Altaf Bukhari; Minister of State for Housing & Urban Development, Asiea Naqash; legislators, Ali Muhammad Sagar, Mubarak Gul,  Shamima Firdous, Muhammad Ashraf Mir, Abid Ansari; Noor Muhammad Sheikh, Ishfaq Jabbar, Anjum Fazili, Khursheed Alam; administrative secretaries of various Departments; heads of several Departments were present in the meeting.