‘North India witnessing major power boom’
Avtar Bhat
BANI, Feb 24 : Accusing the earlier Governments of deliberately sabotaging the several developmental projects and neglecting the remote areas of Jammu region, Union Minister with Independent Charge of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that the earlier governments had a vested interest in depriving these areas of education and development.
Talking to media on the sidelines of a public meeting at Machhedi in Bani area of Kathua district, Dr Jitendra Singh said the remote areas of the Jammu region were deliberately kept neglected by earlier Governments because of vote bank considerations.
He said the elected representatives of these parties never wanted education or awareness to reach the people in remote areas so that, election after election, the people’s ignorance could be exploited to secure their vote.
Dr Jitendra Singh said these Governments sabotaged several power and development projects with a sole motto of depriving them of progress and development. He said the glaring example of this discriminatory approach of earlier governments can be gauged from the fact that the game changing Shahpur Kandi Project for Kathua and Samba districts of Jammu region was sabotaged for 30 long years because they did not want to benefit the people of twin districts.
He said even when the project was finalized by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti did not sign the agreement. It was only after the erstwhile State was put under Governor’s rule that the pact was signed with Punjab Government and work was started on this prestigious project, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said same has been case with Rattle Project in Kishtwar district the construction work of which was stopped by NC –Congress Government led by Omar Abdullah because both these parties did not want that the benefit should go to this region.
Later PDP also did the same thing and no efforts were made by former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti to restore this project. The work on this project was only restored after, State was put under Governor’s rule, he added.
He said several road projects in the remote areas were also sabotaged by the earlier Governments for obvious reasons and people in Machhedi and other areas were traveling a long distance by foot to reach their destinations. But under Modi Government new road projects are under construction in remote and far-flung areas so that these people can avail all those facilities which are being availed by people in urban areas, he added.
Later addressing a public meeting in the remote hilly area of Machhedi under snowfall conditions Dr Jitendra Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed this self-centered culture to reach out to those who were needy, regardless of whichever party they had voted for. He said some day, analysts will seek an answer as to why all the development that happened in remote Machhedi and Bani area in the last 10 years, could not happen in the earlier six decades.
On the occasion, he announced Rs 20 lakh for Machhedi out of which Rs 10 lakh had already been allocated for a Community Hall.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the best way to appreciate 10 years of the Modi rule is to recall the scenario that existed in the 10 years prior to that. When Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014, the entire country was reeling under the shadow of pessimism and the common citizen had lost all hope.
Today, even people living in remote areas like here feel confident that their elected representatives sincerely care for them and are constantly working hard to get new projects for them, said Dr Jitendra Singh. “This change has been possible because we have the Modi Government at the Centre,” he added.
Referring to the massive developments seen in the far flung hilly regions like Machhedi and Bani, Dr Jitendra Singh said Modi had promised that he would raise the neglected and peripheral regions of the country to the same equal level as the more developed regions and he has succeeded in doing so. He said, Bani which was one of the most inaccessible regions in the Jammu division, had in the last 10 years received a network of roads through Central funds and new Highways are under construction.
“Modi Government also provided level playing field to the aspirations of youth from even the remotest area in Jammu and Kashmir”, said Dr. Jitendra Singh.
Union Minister said “reforms under DoPT such as abolition of interviews in public examination gave a fair chance to the youth from remotest hilly area and poorest backgrounds to emerge successful”.
Dr.Jitendra Singh said that Chhatargala Tunnel will provide all-weather road connectivity from Lakhanpur through Bani to Bhadarwah which will lead to ease of travel, generate, employment opportunities and harness tourist potential of the region.
Maximum allocation under PMGSY is done in Udhampur-Kathua-Doda to improve road connectivity to villages said, Dr.Jitendra Singh
“Bani region has location as scenic as Kashmir Valley, my aim is to bring in on tourist map of India by increasing road connectivity of the region”, the Minister said.
Later Dr Jitendra Singh visited Seva II Hydropower Project near here which is located on Himachal-J&K border. The 120 MW Power Project caters to J&K and all the neighboring North Indian States. The Union Minister reviewed the status of hydropower projects with NHPC, Director (Finance) R.P Goyal and other officials.
The Minister said that the North India is witnessing a major power boom under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
The Minister was given a detailed presentation on the progress of various hydroelectric power and development projects in the area. Dr Jitendra said that for the first, natural resources like hydropower of Jammu and Kashmir are being exploited under the Modi Government so that surplus power from this region can be supplied to other parts of North India.
Dr Jitendra Singh also discussed upcoming Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities for neighbouring Bani and Basohli of Kathua district.
Dr Jitendra Singh said Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar is all set to emerge North India’s major “power hub” generating around 6,000 MW of power after the completion of the ongoing power projects.
In Kishtwar itself, Dr Jitendra Singh said that six to seven major Hydro power projects have come in the region in a short span of nine to 10 years ever since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister.
Elaborating on this, he pointed out that the largest capacity project is Pakal Dul with a capacity of 1000 MW. Its estimated cost, as of now, is Rs.8,112.12 crore and expected timeline of competition is 2025. Another major project is Kiru Hydroelectric Project with a capacity of 624 MW. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 4,285.59 crore and the timeline in this case is also 2025, he said.
The Minister further informed that at the same time, 850 MW Ratle project has been revived as a joint venture between the Centre and UT of J&K. In addition, the existing Dulhasti Power Station has an installed capacity of 390 MW, while Dulhasti II Hydroelectric Project will have a capacity of 260 MW.
Dr Jitendra Singh said these projects shall not only augment the power supply position thereby making up for the shortage of power supply in the UT of J&K , but the huge investment being made for construction of these projects is also a boost for for local people.
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