Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today issued directions for immediately setting up the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Chak Bhalwal, within the campus of Government College of Engineering & Technology (CGET), till a suitable chunk of land is acquired for permanent establishment of the institute of higher excellence at Jammu.This will pave way for immediately commencing classes for IIT in current academic session from July-August this year.Mufti Sayeed issued these directions during a marathon tour of various parts of Jammu city and its suburbs, including GCET at Chak Bhalwal, to take a firsthand review of the ongoing developmental projects of Jammu city.
The Chief Minister, along with the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh, visited sites for multi-level puzzle parking at Panjtirthi, restoration of Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex, ongoing construction work on Lawyers’ Chambers at District Court Complex Janipur, multi-tier parking at Jammu Bus-Stand and construction of Bikram Chowk-Presentation Convent School Flyover near Gandhi Nagar.The Chief Minister was accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising Minister for Public Works, Syed Altaf Bukhari, Minister for Forest & Social Welfare, Bali Baghat, Minister for Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar, Minister of State for Information & Culture, Priya Sethi, MLA Jammu-East, Rajesh Gupta, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Dr. Pawan Kotwal, Commissioner/Secretary, Higher Education, Sarita Chauhan, Secretary Law, Mohammad Ashraf, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, A. K. Sahu, Director Colleges, Chief Engineer R&B, Jammu, MD JKPCC and other senior officers during the tour.
Describing the sanction by the Union Government for establishment of IIT at Jammu as a matter of honour and shot in the arm for higher education sector, Mufti Sayeed formed a Group of Ministers which will identify a suitable chunk of land for permanently establishing the IIT. “There are certain proposals presently under the active consideration of the Government. A decision in immediate future will be taken to fulfil the commitment before the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development to set up IIT at Jammu,” he said and added that GCET will be shifted to a suitable alternate place for the time being so that it continues to function smoothly without any hassles.Later, during his visit to Panjtirthi, the Chief Minister was briefed about the concept of multi-level puzzle parking to decongest the city. Commissioner JMC informed the Chief Minister that the multi-tier parking will ease traffic movement in old city to a great extent.
The Chief Minister granted on-spot approval for Rs. 20 crore so that the work on the project starts immediately. The parking slot will be constructed over 10 kanals of land over a period of 12 months and will have a capacity to hold 360 vehicles .In a bid to make the parking place at Panjtirthi commercially viable, Mufti Sayeed also issued directions to the Minister for Public Works to formulate a detailed plan for construction of restaurant, coffee point and public convenience near the parking slot to facilitate the people.During his visit to Jammu bus-stand, the VC JDA presented a blueprint of the proposed multi-tier parking which will be constructed over 55.37 kanals of land. The slot will allow parking of 1300 cars at one go. This will hugely decongest city traffic from Indira Chowk and Raghunath Bazar towards Gumat Chowk.
At Mubarak Mandi Complex, the Chief Minister went around the Gallery and Assembly Halls where restoration work is presently under way. He directed the executing agency to complete the renovation works within the stipulated timeframe. Minister of State for Culture, Priya Sethi, briefed the Chief Minister about the steps being taken to improve the ambience of the complex by sprucing up the campus and its adjoining lawns so that it becomes a major cultural and heritage attraction for tourists in City Centre.
Mufti Sayeed also visited Bikram Chowk-Presentation Convent School flyover, near Gandhi Nagar, which is being executed by J&K ERA under its Urban Sector Development Investment Programme (USDIP) at a cost of Rs. 95.50 crore as part of ADB-funded Projects. The eight-laned 1.3 km flyover will provide a huge passage to uptown city and will be completed by December, 2016. He issued directions for execution of work in three shifts on the project so that the work is completed within the stipulated time.On his visit to the District Court Complex at Janipur, Mufti Sayeed inspected the ongoing work on Lawyers’ Chambers. He was briefed that 213 chambers for lawyers will be constructed over an area of 71,673 sq. ft at a revised cost of Rs. 18.52 crore. JKPCC is the executing agency of the said project.