Chief Secretary, B R Sharma Wednesday chaired the 3rd meeting of the State Level High Powered Steering Committee (SHPSC) on Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) here.AMRUT was launched on June-25, 2015 by the Prime Minister along with Smart Cities and Housing for all (Urban) Missions at New Delhi.Under AMRUT, Central Government releases financial assistance to the States to create basic urban infrastructure that shall lead to provision of better services to public.The Committee gave post facto approval to State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) of 2016-17 of Kargil town which has already been submitted to the Union Ministry of Urban Development.Initially, four cities/ towns namely Srinagar, Anantnag, Jammu and Leh in J&K were covered under AMRUT. The Union Government has also approved Kargil town for inclusion under AMRUT.
Meanwhile, the Committee also gave approval to 8 pending projects with respect to the State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) 2015-16 and 2016-17. Out of the total 30 projects for the year 2015-16, 22 projects were cleared by SHPSC in its 2nd meeting held on 30th May 2016.The projects approved today include upgradation of dewatering stations in Srinagar, intelligent traffic system in Srinagar, creation of green buffer zone at SLF site Achan, construction of sewage network and 4MLD Sewage Treatment Plant for treatment of sewage entering through 5 nallahs on left bank of Tawi River in Jammu, drainage scheme for Swagat Vihar, Deeli, Main Rehari Nallah, ST Mohalla, JKAP Lines Channi Rama and construction of deep drain along Tawi Canal in Extension Trikuta Nagar in Jammu besides construction of multi-tier parking at Panjtirthi, Jammu
The Committee also approved the proposal for procurement of low floor SRTC buses under AMRUT to improve public transport system within Municipal Corporation limits in Srinagar and Jammu cities.Principal Secretary, Forest, R K Gupta, Commissioner Secretary Transport, Bipul Pathak, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, N K Choudhary, Commissioner Secretary, H&UD/Mission Director AMRUT, Hirdesh Kumar, Secretary, PHE, Sanjeev Verma, and other officers were present in the meeting.Earlier, Chief Secretary also chaired a video conference with Deputy Commissioners of Baramulla, Kupwara, Kathua, Ramban, Kishtwar, Poonch and Rajouri with regard to availability of land for Solid Waste Management Projects under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).The Chief Secretary asked the DCs to proactively expedite identification, inspection and clearance of land for establishing STPs within this month.Under SWB (Urban), 80 towns are to be covered in J&K for establishing SWM Plants. For the purpose, the H&UD Department has formed 16 clusters in the State. The DPRs of 11 clusters have already been prepared and land for establishing SWMPs identified.Out of the 16 clusters, 6 clusters (25 towns) are proposed to be taken up during 2016-17 including Anantnag, Kulgam, Handwara, Katra, Rajouri and Udhampur clusters.