The four member team of Asian Development Bank comprising of Atsushi Kaneko, Senior Portfolio Manager, ADB, Ron Slangen, Resettlement Consultant (INRM), Saugata Dasgupta ADB (INRM) visited the state to review the progress of various projects being executed by J&K ERA under the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir Urban Sector Development Investment Programme (JKUSDIP).Public Relations Officer, J&K ERA, Kashmir, Mohammad Azhar in a statement to KNS said the ADB mission visited various sites on 4 and 5 March which include construction sites of Jehangir Chowk- Rambagh expressway corridor, Multilevel parking facility at KMDA, Athwajan drainage project along National highway byepass, Mehjoor bridge, revamping of pumping stations along the banks of Jhelum River in Srinagar which was followed by a meeting with ERA officers on 5th , March including Chief Executive Officer Vinod Sharma, Malik Basharat Ahmad, Director Central , J&K ERA, Mir Iqbal Project Manager, JKUSDIP (T), Zulfiqar Hussain Project Manager, JKUSDIP (Hyd).
Chief Executive Officer, J&K ERA in a meeting informed the visiting team that till date Rs 818 crores have been spent by J&K ERA under the ongoing JKUSDIP funded by Asian Development Bank. He informed them that all out efforts are being made by J&KERA to meet the physical and financial targets set for the projects. He further informed that keeping in view the recent unfortunate flyover accident at Kolkata state govt. has ordered for safety audit of all under construction flyover projects in state including of two flyovers being constructed by J&K ERA in Srinagar and Jammu respectively.He added that in this regard J&KERA has directed its Project Management Consultants to immediately mobilize the services of structural stability engineer and safety engineer to prepare the safety improvement plan for the flyover projects being executed by J&KERA. He further said that third party safety audit from a national level reputed engineering institute is also being considered. The ADB team also had a meeting with Commissioner, SMC and conveyed there concern about prevailing conditions at Achan Landfill site , SMC Commissioner conveyed the resolve of state govt to operate the Achan Landfill site as per the solid waste management guidelines. The team expressed the overall satisfaction with progress of works and appreciated the efforts being made by J&K ERA to strengthen the safety measures of under construction flyover projects. (KNS)