Zulfkar inaugurates renovated FCS&CA building

‘90-year-old building to become heritage tourism site’

SRINAGAR, APRIL 25: Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today inaugurated the renovated building of Directorate of FCS&CA here at Shaheed Gunj.

Representatives from executing agency J&K Housing Board informed the Minister that in the first phase of the renovation, the old roof, which had water leakage at many places, was replaced with new colored tin.

It was revealed that to maintain the traditional façade of the building, Lime-Surkhi Pointing, which is the combination of traditional lime and broken brick material, was used. Besides, the agency has also changed the soffit and eaves-boarding of the building.

The Minister expressed pleasure while noticing that the porch of the building was reconstructed with traditional Deviri stones.

It was revealed that the work on the second phase of the project which includes the tiling work around the building is going on in full swing. Besides, a park would also be developed within the directorate premises to give it an aesthetic look. The fire safety measures, including fire detecting system, fire alarm along with complete electrification as per modern guidelines will be undertaken in the second phase.

The renovation work in the first phase was carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 61 lakh, while as works under the second phase would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 85 lakh.

Expressing satisfaction over the work done so far, the Minister said the purpose of the conserving and renovating FCS&CA building was to preserve cultural heritage. He explained that the building constructed in 1930’s deserves preservation for future generation to admire State’s archaic heritage.

Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali said that given the central location of the building and its rich history, it has a potential to become a major heritage tourism site.

Later, the Minister had a meeting with various union leaders of employees working in the department. The leaders expressed their gratitude to the Minister for fulfilling all the promises he had made with them regarding the welfare of the employees of the department.

Director FCS&CA Nisar Ahmad Wani, Deputy Director FCS&CA Mohammed Aslam, along with other concerned officers were accompanying the Minister.