Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, Oct 9: The State Government today said that more than Rs 16 crore have been released for the restoration of Mubarak Mandi project at Jammu and that work would be completed over the next five years.
Replying to a question put by Ajatshatru Singh of National Conference in the Legislative Council, Minister of State (MoS) for Home and Tourism, Nasir Aslam Wani said that Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture, Government of India have so far sanctioned three projects for restoration of Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex. Nasir said that the sanctioned cost of the projects is Rs. 73.24 crore and out of this Rs. 16.26 crore have been released so far.
“Out of the three sanctioned projects, one project sanctioned in 2005-2006 for restoration of the High Court Complex under the Destination Development Scheme sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 4.37 crore has been completed through Archaeological Survey of India while the other two projects have been sanctioned during the current financial year,” said Nasir.
He said that since the conservation works of such a heritage project are highly technical and sophisticated, the State Government has decided that the work would be carried out by the expert hands of the Archaeological Survey of India. He said the Archaeological Survey of India authorities have already been requested for initiating the execution of works. He added that the Government of India has allowed five years period for the execution of the projects.
Raising concern over the slow paced work on the project, Ajatshatru said that a House Committee should be formed so that the reasons behind the delay are established. He said the State Government should not have any reservation on this point adding that this would ensure that the project is completed within the stipulated time frame.
However, the suggestion to set up the Committee was objected by the MoS Tourism who said that this would not serve any purpose. The Minister said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is himself monitoring the pace of work on the project. He added that Omar along with Tourism Minister, Nawang Rigzin Jora take regular review meetings about the Mubarak Mandi Heritage project.
“I invite the members of the House to visit the project once the Durbar shifts to Jammu. We are ready to take them to the project so that they could check the progress made in the conservation of this all important heritage project of the State. This can be done in the first week of November or second week depending upon the availability of the members,” said Nasir.
On the suggestion of MoS Tourism, Legislative Council Chairman, Amrit Malhotra said that a committee of the members of the House would be formed and it would visit the Mubarak Mandi heritage complex. He stressed the need for taking up the project more vigorously adding that the project is linked with the rich cultural ethos possessed by the State.
The Legislative Council Chairman said the names of the members would be announced in due course of time adding that the matter is of prime importance and deserves due attention from the Government. He asked the MoS Tourism to ensure that the conservation project is completed within stipulated time frame.
In a supplementary, Murtaza Ahmad Khan of People’s Democratic Party said that some of Non-Governmental Organizations are taking the credit for the conservation of the project. He said the Government should clear the air on this issue adding that confusion might prevail otherwise. Congress legislators Jugal Kishore and Naresh Gupta also raised supplementary and said that the work on the project should be speeded up.
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