Minister for Education, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today conducted an extensive tour of Srinagar city to take the firsthand appraisal of ongoing dredging operation on flood spill channel.The Minister was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Farooq Ahmad Lone, Chief Engineer of Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC), SE Mechanical I&FC, Chief Engineer of R&B, S.E R&B, Executive Engineer of PHE and several other officers.At Panzinara, the Minister was informed that 2.73 lakh cubic meters of total silt will be dredged out, out of which 2.06 Lakh cubic meters have been dredged till date.On his visit to Flood Spill Channel from Bemina to Shariefabad, Bukhari directed the concerned officials to expedite the work for early completion. He said dredging will help in increasing the carrying capacity of water in Flood Spill Channel to large extent, which will help in quick discharge of water during floods. He said entire Flood Spill Channel will carry 30,000 cusecs of water which will save the Srinagar city from floods.
The Minister was informed that 17 excavators have been pressed into service to remove 11 lakh cubic meters of silt, of which 80% will go out and remaining 20% will be used to raise the embankments.The work on flood spill channel is being executed at an estimated cost of Rs. 399.29 crore under Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan which passes through districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Bandipora from Bemina to Naidkhai via Khushipora involving 1759 kanals of land.During his visit, various public deputations met the Minister and apprised him about their issues and grievances. He patiently listened to the grievances of people and assured that their genuine issues would be considered and redressed in a time bound manner.Earlier, the Minister visited RajBagh and met people to take the first hand appraisal of the problem faced by them and the issues in the area that need to be addressed.During the visit, Minister passed on-spot directions for redresal of various grievances of the local residents. He directed the concerned officials to macadamize the lane in Abdulabad in Rajbagh and approves the additional water line for the people of Iqbalabad colony.He also directed the concerned officials to repair the Aramwari foot bridge and also asked them to repair the streetlights. On the occasion, the minister assured all the help for the upliftment of the area.