Minister for Consumer Affairs, Public Distribution, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali met Pralad Joshi, Member Parliament and Chairman Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas (PSCPN) and discussed various other issues pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir.Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali expressed dissatisfaction over the response of executing agency M/s Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) which was awarded the much hyped Project way back in 2011. He brought into the notice of Chairman that the company entrusted with the execution of work has miserably failed to expedite the work on the said project despite State Government’s full cooperation. He demanded that the project may be expedited to make possible round the clock LPG supply to Jammu and Kashmir which faces shortage of cooking gas especially in winters due to closure of Jammu- Srinagar National Highway.
Demanding declaration of Jammu and Srinagar as CNG Cities, Zulfkar said that in view of continuous increase in air pollution due to vehicles and industrial sources which is alarming in the Capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, corrective measures needs to be taken to check air pollution. He said that measure to establish CNG filling station in the State needs to be taken in a time bound manner so that State may be able to replace the existing vehicles with CNG which may help in reducing air pollution and declaring the twin Capital Cities as CNG cities.The Minister also took up the matter of establishment of Portable Petrol Pumps in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that in view of difficult and hilly terrains and spread of population over vast area, where establishment of normal petrol pumps is difficult, need for establishing portable petrol pumps especially in remote and inaccessible areas is need of the hour. He demanded establishment of 1500 portable pumps in the State so that people have not to run to farther places for fuelling purpose.
Demanding increase in subsidized Kerosene Oil quota, the Minister said that in Jammu and Kashmir most of the population is residing in in-accessible areas and is still relying on kerosene oil. He said besides, Ladakh region remains cut off for more than six months where kerosene oil is mostly being used in view of sub zero temperature in the region. He demanded enhancement of quota for the Ladakh region also, as there is no other alternate source of fuel in view of difficult accessibility.
The Minister also demanded setting up of Petroleum Depot at Anantnag. He said that presently there is only one depot at Pampore, Pulwama which cater the district of Central and North Kashmir. He said that four District of Kashmir gets supplies directly from the depots at Jammu. “Due to incessant rains and snow, the condition of National Highway deteriorates, with the result National Highway remains closed for long spell of time even during summer months, which hampers in smooth supply of petroleum products to the south Kashmir” , he added. The Minister brought into the notice of Chairman that Chief Minister has already requested for establishing of Petroleum depot at Anantnag to cover 22.50 lacs population.Assuring appropriate action, Pralad Joshi, said that keeping in view difficult different topography of the state, they will try to consider all the demands of the state Government. He added that they will examine the demands and issue necessary instructions in this regard.On the occasion, Choudhary Lal Singh, Minister for Forest, Ecology & Environment and Chowdhary Abdul Gani Kohli Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries were also present on the occasion.