Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 10: Minister for R&B and Mechanical Engineering Abdul Majid Wani today conducted extensive tour of Kathua and Samba districts.
During his tour, the Minister besides attending various public gatherings also held detailed review meeting of both districts to get first hand appraisal of the existing scale of road infrastructure and quantum of works completed during this fiscal.
Member Parliament, Ch. Lal Singh, MLC, Subash Gupta, MLA, Samba, Yashpaul Kundal, MLA Hiranagar, Durga Das also accompanied the Minister.
Addressing public gatherings, Mr. Wani reiterated Government commitment of equitable development of all areas with special focus on districts with lower road connectivity percentage.
“As demands for new road links and upgradation of existing road infrastructure are arriving, we have to come up with a comprehensive plan to accommodate and fulfil urgent needs of the public at an earliest”, he said, maintaining that growth and expansion in road and bridge connectivity network opens new avenues for economic growth and prosperity for the people.
Describing Kathua and Samba districts as gateways to Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Wani said that he deemed it befitting to start his extensive tour of the State from these districts. He called for full cooperation from all public representatives and district administration in order to further improve the overall developmental scenario in these districts.
“Together we need to reach out to alleviate problems faced by the masses and as such I have issued clear directions to the engineers in the field to ascertain and recognize local level problems and come up with solutions to address them”, he stressed adding that he will personally carry out a special tour of Kandi belts and border areas across the State to reach out to the masses living in these areas.
The Minister during his visit also inspected Mangloore bridge site in Kathua to ascertain its current status. He directed the concerned to clear all bottlenecks immediately and start the remaining work at an earliest for the benefit of the large population of the area.
During the review meeting at Samba, the Minister was informed that 79 percent of the approved plan outlay of Rs 66.5 crore has been expended ending January on various developmental projects. DDC, Samba Mubarak Singh said that Rs 267.35 lakh have been utilized under PWD(R&B) sector in the district ending January this fiscal.
In another review meeting at Kathua, the Minister was informed that 65 percent of the approved plan outlay of Rs 103.72 crore has been expended ending January 2013 on developmental projects. DDC, Kathua Zahida Khan informed the meeting that under the district plan Rs 7 crore has been expended in PWD(R&B) sector in the district ending January this fiscal.
The Minister also reviewed progress achieved under NABARD and PMGSY schemes in both the districts.
Chief Engineer R&B, Chief Engineer, PMGSY, MD JKPCC, SEs, Executive Engineers, Panchs and Sarpanchs and other officers were also present during the meetings.
Follow our WhatsApp channel