Divisional Commissioner Dr Pawan Kotwal today chaired a meeting to review the pace of progress on Mega Projects in Jammu province.Taking project wise review, the Div Com also sought action taken report on the directions issued in last review meeting chaired by the Chief Minister.The projects reviewed in the meeting included expansion/extension of the runway of the Jammu Airport, multi-tier parking cum commercial complex at Bus stand, development of Tawi River Front, construction of Tawi Barrage (artificial lake), Sewerage projects for Jammu city, parking at City chowk, Jammu Ring road under PMDP, new Medical colleges for doda, Rajouri and Kathua, Augmentation of water supply to Jammu city from River Chenab, construction of Maharaja Hari Singh park, Jammu Master plan, restoration of Akhnoor Fort, Jammu ropeway project.The Divisional Commissioner directed the executing agencies to expedite the pace of work on the respective projects to complete these in stipulated time.Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) gave a detailed presentation on development plan proposal submitted to Government of India(GoI) under Smart City project.
The Divisional Commissioner made various valid observations regarding the practical implementation of these proposed actions. He advised JMC and the planning agency to tailor the proposed actions according to the unique geographic and demographic conditions of Jammu city.Given that the state of Jammu and Kashmir falls in seismic zones IV and V, Dr Pawan Kotwal said that earthquake retrofitting of Jammu city should be one of the major components under the smart city project.Divisional Commissioner directed different departments to extend full cooperation for this project. He further asked them to collaborate and contribute so that various ground level requirements can be included in the plan.The meeting was attended by IGP Danesh Rana, District Development Commissioner Simrandeep Singh, Commissioner JMC Manmohan Singh, Director AHD SK Abrol, Joint Director Tourism Vishal Mahajan, Vice Chairman JDA Mubarak Singh, DGM NHIDCL AK Jha and representatives from various executing agencies.