The Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Singh today directed the officers to ensure timely completion of various projects undertaken to augment the electric infra in the state, so that the supply and transmission of electricity gets necessary augmentation.The Deputy Chief Minister was addressing officers during a review meeting convened to discuss the status of Jallandhar-Samba-Amargarh transmission line being executed by Sterlite Power.Divisional Commissioner Jammu Dr Pawan Kotwal, Commissioner Secretary Power, Mr Dheeraj Gupta, Development Commissioner Power, Mr Gul Ayaz, Chief Engineers of PDD, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Samba, representatives of Sterlite Power were present in the meeting whereas Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Mr Baseer Ahmad Khan, Deputy Commissioners Budgam, Poonch, Baramulla and Rajouri also participated through video conferencing.The Deputy Chief Minister while reviewing the pace of the work asked for maintaining close liaison and synergizing efforts in order to ensure that the scheme is completed within the stipulated timeline as it is very essential for the transmission and augmentation of the power in the state. He said that it would augment to a great extent the transmissibility of electricity from Northern Grid to the both divisions of the state.
Dr Singh also directed the Deputy Commissioners of the areas through which the line is passing to speed up the process of acquisition of the land by paying adequate compensation to the land owners and also remove other bottlenecks, if any. He said that the officers should also ensure that any other issue is sorted out in consultation with the representatives of the Sterlite Power, the land owners whose property is being acquired and other related departments.
The meeting was told that the acquisition has been done upto ninety percent and other remaining parts would also be expedited .It was also given out by the representatives of the company that they are expecting to complete the transmission line well before the stipulated time.It is pertinent to mention that the project would enable more than 1000MW of power exchange between the state and Northern Grid thereby increasing the transmission capacity by over 70 percent and would also ensure increased Grid Reliability due to provision of alternate route for power transfer and also providing continuous power to the state even during extreme weather conditions.
The Line passing through eleven districts of the state would be benefitting 1.25 crore of population, provide employment opportunity to the unskilled population, besides also promoting business and attracting new growth avenues.Earlier, the Deputy Chief Minister held a review meeting regarding the multi level parking facility to be constructed at the General Bus stand Jammu.It was attended by Divisional Commissioner, Jammu Dr Pawan Kotwal, Commissioner Secretary Housings and Urban Development Department Mr Hirdesh Kumar, Vice Chairman Jammu Development Authority Mr. Mubarak Singh and Commissioner Jammu Municipal S. Manmohan Singh.The Deputy Chief Minister asked the concerned to speed up the pace of work on the prestigious project and ensure its timely completion. He said that special care should also be taken of the people whose property is being acquired by rehabilitating them properly.