Advisors to Governor, K Skandan, KK Sharma and Farooq Ahmad Khan today jointly chaired high-level meeting at civil secretariat here for fast pacing of developmental initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir.The meeting was also attended by Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development, Dheeraj Gupta, Financial Commissioner Revenue, Dr Pawan Kotal, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, Secretary Revenue, Abdul Majeed, Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar, Budgam, and Ganderbal, Addl CEO, Metropolitan Regulatory Development Authority (MRDA), Srinagar and other concerned.Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora and Anantnag also participated in the meeting through video conferencing.Speaking on the occasion, Advisor Skandan said that a policy decision has been taken by the Government for twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu under MRDAs to execute mega development projects in twin cities and several related activities have been initiated to identify suitable land for these areas.To facilitate developmental process in J&K, the Advisors said an ‘Investors’ Summit’ is being organised in next year for which proposed targets for investments are being set. He said that the summit would not be a typical investment business summit but a holistic summit with primary focus on all-round investments in the State.
The Advisor said the government is committed for transformation of over-all development scene of housing, rapid transport system and other developmental projects which are of great significance of employment and tourism, besides livestock, agriculture and all other activities which would come under the gambit of investment.He also directed the concerned Deputy Commissioners to find suitable land for developmental projects in the next two months.While asking the concerned DCs to retrieve the encroached state land, the Advisors asked them to make a list of identified state land which is encroachment free so that these lands would be secured for larger benefit of public.The meeting was informed that works have already been started under MRDAs at both Jammu and Srinagar cities including regulated infra development—both public and private, comprehensive mobility plan for which DPRs have been completed, intra-city e-buses through third party will be started and e- autos and e-rickshaws through application would also be covered under MRDA.During the meeting, Advisor KK Sharma suggested the planners to study other developmental models of other cities so that a comprehensive plan for twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu would be initiated for prolong period.While speaking on the occasion, Advisor Farooq Khan suggested that the concerned departments like Srinagar SDA, JDA, SMC, JMC etc should make their respective plans to decongest the cities in order to make the living standards better for the people.