Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh today called for taking necessary steps to make various power projects in the State functional which have been rendered dysfunctional due to one reason or the other.The Deputy Chief Minister was addressing a meeting after inspecting 9-MW SEWA-III Hydel Power Project which is not functioning since last two years.The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary PDD, Mr Dheeraj Kumar Gupta, Secretary Technical PDD, Mr Asgar Ali, Chief Engineer NHPC, Chief Engineers and senior officers of PDD.The Deputy Chief Minister directed the Chief Engineer NHPC to work in coordination with the J&K State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) so that SEWA-III could be made functional within a month. He also called for preparing a comprehensive mechanism to ensure that all the non-functional power projects are revived.
While reviewing 87 small and micro hydel projects, the Deputy Chief Minister directed that a portion of profit made from these projects should be utilized for development of local area and there should be no diversion of funds and these should be used for their specific purpose. He said the government is committed to upgrade the power infrastructure and in this regard the Centre has been liberal by extending adequate funds to the State.The Deputy Chief Minister later addressed a huge public meeting at Bani which was also attended by Health Minister, Choudhary Lal Singh, MLA Jeevan Lal, Ms Mamta Singh, and other prominent citizens and political activists.While referring to the recent initiatives by the government in ensuring that the rural and far-flung areas get accelerated development, the Deputy Chief Minister said necessary mechanism has already been put in place to ensure that these schemes are properly implemented and people get benefitted from these.
“The recently announced package by the Prime Minister is historic and would ensure comprehensive development of J&K in all sectors including Heath, R&B, Power, Tourism etc. We should all work collectively so that the benefits of this schemes reach to the targeted populace”, he said and maintained that the Government has already initiated steps for its proper implementation.The Deputy Chief Minister while responding to the demands of the people assured them that the work will soon be started on Bani-Dugan road and also on the Bani-Basohli road. He said that Bani would be connected with Kashmir with a tunnel at Chattarkalan and said that the matter of having separate Tourism Development Authorities for Bani, Basohli and Billawar has already been taken up with the concerned so that tourism related activities get a flip.
Dr Singh also asked the MLA Bani to identify tourist spots and come up with a proposal for constructing fruit Mandi at Bani. He said a new building would soon be constructed for Bani College. He also said that Billawar-Bani-Basohli would soon get a separate PDD division and various un-electrified villages would be taken up for electrification under DDUGY.The Deputy Chief Minister while responding to the demands of the MLA said that Gaddi-Sippi and Koli community would soon be provided the requisite facilities in every sector of life.The Health Minister while speaking on the occasion said that the developmental programmes being undertaken by the Government are historic in nature as these cater to the people of all sections. He said people should come forward and avail maximum benefit of these welfare initiatives and also provide necessary feedback about implementation of government’s developmental programmes and welfare schemes.Ch. Lal Singh further said that the government would provide a critical ambulance after every 20 Kms and free diagnostics would be provided at hospitals, health centers besides giving free medicine to the people. He also said that more doctors would be provided to the area in order to augment the human resource and also ensure that the people get the requisite medical treatment.