Union Minister of State for Development of North-Eastern Region and MoS in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh along with MLA Kathua, Rajeev Jasrotia today laid foundation for improvement, up gradation of Old Samba Kathua (OSK) road under CRF Scheme at village Saktey Chak in Kathua.Addressing the gathering after laying foundation, said that the Old Samba Kathua road is stretched over the length of 14.70 km and would get upgraded at the cost of Rs 15 crore. The said road would start from the take up point at village Saktey Chak and will move through villages Mahi Chak, Badala, Tharyara, Sumwan, Padyari, Changran and get connected to Kathua town besides providing alternate connectivity to the large rural area with Kathua town and National Highway.He said that the road would get constructed under Central Road Fund (CRF) scheme involving the up gradation & improvement of the road and this road is the big achievement & burning demand of inhabitants of the area. He also said that upcoming road projects under CRF and PMGSY will also help in improving inter-state connectivity in Kathua.
Dr Singh also emphasized that development projects of the Central Government were limited not only to urban areas but rural population is also getting it`s due share. He underlined the “border area toilets” project, the work on which was started in collaboration with “Sulabh Shauchalaya” along the International Border (IB) in Hiranagar Tehsil a path breaking initiative in accomplishing task through voluntary involvement of various stake holders. He further informed that a total of 19000 individual bunkers and 4700 community bunkers will be constructed in Hiranagar near IB to safeguard the lives of border dwellers and their live stock during cross border firing.Dr Jitendra Singh also disclosed that Shahpur Kandi and Ujh Multipurpose project will become a game changer in de-stressing the water stressed areas of not only Kathua but Samba also. He also added that Kathua is bestowed with ample natural resources and it has the potential of becoming an industrial hub like Surat in Gujarat.
At the outset, MLA Kathua, Rajeev Jasrotia said that people centric development is being carried out at Kathua for providing basic amenities to the people through focused attention. He also said that up gradation of OSK road along with Nagri-Fatehpur road and Bridge at village Pandori and Keerian-Gandial will provide a major fillip in road connectivity besides generating revenue, tourism, trade and employment avenues.MLA Rajeev also demanded early start up of channelization of Ujh, a detailed project of which amounting to Rs. 75 Crore has already been submitted with the concerned queaters. He further demanded funds for commencing lanes and drains work in Kathua besides approval of Rs. 100 Crores project for augmenting water supply scheme for kandi areas of Kathua.Earlier, 50 youths of Tamil Nadu under Inter State Youth Exchange Programme of Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) interacted with Dr. Jitendra Singh and apprised him of various activities in which they have participated.District Development Commissioner Kathua, Rohit Khajuria, SSP Kathua, Suleman Choudhary, Director NYK, Sukhdev Singh, XEN PWD, District Youth Coordinator and other District Officers along with residents of nearby villages were present in large numbers.