Principal Secretary, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department (PD&MP), Rohit Kansal today chaired a meeting to review the progress of road projects taken up under the Prime Minister’s Development Programme (PMDP).The meeting was attended by Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma, Commissioner Secretary, Public Works (R&B) Department, Khurshid Ahmad Shah, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, Director General, PFD PD&MD, Bilal Ahmad, Director Archives, Archaeology and Museums, Muneer-ul-Islam, Managing Director, State Forest Corporation, Vasu Yadav, Special Secretary (Technical) Forests Department, K Ramesh Kumar, Chief Engineers Sudheer Shah, Sudhir Gupta, Gurmeet Singh besides senior functionaries of PWD, NHIDCL,NHAI, SAMPARK and BEACON.Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Ganderbal, Srinagar, Ramban, Pulwama, Budgam and ADC Baramulla joined the meeting through video-conferencing.Kansal took a detailed review of the current status of several road projects including Projects proposed under Bharat Mala, Jammu-Akhnoor-Poonch road, Chenani-Sudhmahadev-Goha road, tunnels at Lachulunga Pass and Taglag Pass, Ring-Road Jammu, Ring-Road Kashmir, Sinthan Pass, Udhampur-Ramban-Banihal, Srinagar-Banihal, Chenani-Nashri, Srinagar-Uri ,Uri-Kaman Post, BB Cantt,Kalai Bridge and other such projects undertaken by NHIDCL,NHAI, SAMPARK, R&B and BEACON.During the meeting, a threadbare discussion was held on several issues pertaining to utility shifting, forest clearance, land acquisition, disbursement of compensation, archeological surveys and many alike. Phase-wise status of tree cutting and relocation of government, religious and other structures falling under the PMDP roads were also discussed.
Principal Secretary set deadlines for phase wise progress under these road projects and directed the concerned authorities to strictly adhere to the timelines.While reviewing the Chenani-Sudhmahadev-Goha road project, the chair asked the DC Udhampur to made disbursement of the compensation within 45 days after allotting of the permission for the draft award.Regarding Zojilla Tunnel, the Principal Secretary sought the status of power connections to both sides of the tunnel and instructed the concerned to submit pending NOCs and estimates. DC Ganderbal was asked to workout innovative solutions for relocation/rehabilitation of the habitation on Western Portal of the tunnel.On Srinagar-Banihal project, it was informed that about 89% progress has been made.Regarding Jammu-Akhnoor road project, the DC Jammu was instructed to identify alternative buildings or merge with the existing one for the accommodation of government department buildings falling under the project.On Akhnoor-Poonch road project, the meeting was informed that the DPR for the project will be completed by February 2019.Regarding Srinagar Ring Road project, DC Budgam informed that tentative awards for 42 villages out of 45 have been sent to the Divisional Commissioner’s office.While reviewing Jammu Ring Road project, the DC Jammu emphasized on early disbursement of compensation awards to speed up the work.The meeting was informed that the Kalai Bridge is completed and will be open for public soon. Principal Secretary asked the concerned departments and the executing agencies to remove all the bottlenecks and stressed on strengthening the inter-departmental coordination. He directed them to personally monitor and supervise the projects to ensure quality work. He further directed them to prepare award drafts in a prescribed format. Issues related to tree cutting was also put forth during the meeting and the SFC was instructed to resolve them to streamline the work.