Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, today called on Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, and urged him to issue instructions to Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) for expeditious execution of Bathinda-Jammu-Srinagar Gas Pipeline Project which is being done on snails’ pace.Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, during his meeting with the Union Minister at New Delhi, discussed various issues pertaining to oil products in Jammu and Kashmir. He briefed Pradhan about the tough topography of the state which is mostly hilly and remain inaccessible in winters even for more than six months with closure of National Highway leading to shortage of supply of Petroleum Products. He urged upon the Center to focus special attention towards state to ensure assured supply of Kerosene Oil, LPG, Diesel and Petrol so that people do not suffer on this account.The Minister brought into the notice of Union Govt the slow pace of progress on Bathinda - Jammu - Srinagar Gas Pipeline Project by GSPL despite State Government’s full cooperation.
He expressed resentment saying that the company is showing lukewarm response towards efforts of the state government to expedite the work on the prestigious project.The Minister demanded that the work on 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 inclusion of all BPL women in the lists of providing free LG connection, Minister said that large number of women are leftover in the Socio Economic Survey conducted in 2011 and much deserved woman are not figuring in the list. He demanded to start Pradhan Mantra Ujjwala Yojana Plus scheme and include all BPL in the list so that 100 target is achieved in making the state free from usage of unclean fuel for cooking purpose. He also demanded opening of new LPG Gas outlets in each block of the state so that people may not face trouble in collecting cylinders.
Taking up the matter of making Jammu and Srinagar as CNG cities, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali said that in view of continuous increase in air pollution in these capital cities corrective measures needs to be taken to check the air pollution. He suggested establishment of CNG filling station in the state so that existing vehicles are replaced with CNG to help reduce alarming air pollution.Zulfkar demanded establishment of 1500 Portable Petrol Pumps as in view of difficult and hilly terrains and scattered population establishment of normal petrol pumps is difficult. The Minister also highlighted the issue of increase in subsidized Kerosene Oil quota for the state as there is no other alternate source of fuel in view of difficult accessibility in most of areas of all the three regions. He demanded restoration of quota for the State to 90456 KLs and Ladakh region to 5132 KLs from present 4632 KLs.The Union Minister of State assured that all the issues projected during the meeting would be looked into for an early redress.