Minister for Power, Sunil Sharma along with Minister for Public Works and Culture, Naeem Akhter and Minister of State for Power, Asiea Naqash, today visited Ganderbal to review the progress of ongoing works at the Alasteng Grid Station.MLA Ganderbal Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar was also present during the visit.Commissioner Secretary PDD, Hirdesh Kumar, Development Commissioner Power, Asgar Ali, Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal Piyush Singhla, Chief Engineer (S&O) Kashmir, Murtaza Mattoo, Superintending Engineer, Executive Engineers and other concerned officers of PDD were present on the occasion.During the visit, Chief Engineer Kashmir and other concerned officers briefed the Ministers about the status of the ongoing works at the grid station and informed that the tendering process for majority of works have been finalized and soon the works will be initiated.The Ministers also sought the details of the works need to be carried out at the Grid Station with their present status. It was stressed that the civil works needs to be completed soon but other related works should also be taken up simultaneously for the early completion of the works at the Grid Station.The concerned officers were asked to fix the weekly targets and to prepare a progress chart accordingly for better monitoring of the works.
"The progress on the works should be monitored on daily basis and will personally visit the site once in a month to review the status of the works, besides, the Commissioner Secretary PDD and Development Commissioner Power will also take weekly and fortnightly meetings with the concerned engineers to ensure smooth progress in the project", the Minister added.Sunil Sharma asked the Chief Engineer to ensure that the transformers and other important equipment already procured are in running condition and if required, to be serviced properly.Status of erection of towers for transmission lines were also discussed briefly and Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal was asked to complete the land acquisition process for the remaining towers.Asking the engineers to put in extra efforts for early commissioning of this important Grid Station, Sunil Sharma said that works need to be taken up in double shift with effective monitoring mechanism put in place.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that with the commissioning of Alasteng Grid Station, the power scenario in Kashmir would improve significantly."Government is very keen for the early commissioning of this Grid Station and works are going in full swing at the site. Instructions have been passed to the concerned officers of Power department to ensure resolving all issues hampering progress in the project", Sunil Sharma said.
Minister for Public Works, Naeem Akhter said that after completion of works, this grid station would reduce the load on the two existing power grids and help in improving power supply in the valley. Now there is only need to expedite the works and complete them at the earliest, he added.Asiea Naqash while directing the officers asked for speeding up all related works and complete the same for commissioning of station without wasting more time. She also stressed on laying focused attention to take up the works on transmission lines as same are important for supplying power from this station to other areas of the valley including Ladakh region.On the occasion, MLA Ganderbal also take up the issue of establishment of transformer workshop in the area. The Minister assured the legislator that the issue will be resolved on priority.Later, the Minister along with Asiea Naqash also visited Grid Station at Cheshmashahi in Srinagar. The concerned officers briefed the Ministers about the functioning of Grid Station and also informed about the areas getting power supply from this station.Augmentation plan for the Cheshmashahi Grid Station was also discussed. The Minister was informed that order for procurement of new transformers has been placed and the department will receive the transformers within next few months.The Minister appreciated the efforts of the concerned officers and staff for maintaining cleanliness at the Grid Station.