Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 30 : In order to overcome acute shortage of accommodation for Government employees and lay base for creation of productive assets, Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today ordered constitution of a high-level Committee which will examine and submit recommendations for effective utilization of land sites presently available with the Government for building infrastructure.
The Committee will be headed by the Principal Secretary, Planning & Development Department and will have Administrative Secretaries of Estates, Finance, Home, R&B and Revenue Departments as its Members. It will submit its recommendations by September 1 for consideration and approval of the Government.
The Chief Minister gave these directions while chairing a high-level review meeting on the future projects for creation of accommodation by the Estates Department.
Minister for Revenue, Javaid Mustafa Mir, Minister for Public Works, Floriculture, Gardens & Parks, Syed Altaf Bukhari, Chief Secretary, Iqbal Khandey, Principal Secretary, Planning, B. R. Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas and the Administrative Secretaries of Finance, H&UDD, R&B and Revenue Departments, besides Director Estates attended the meeting.
Highlighting the need to build durable assets to overcome shortage of accommodation, the Chief Minister said optimal use of available sites for construction of quarters and flats needs to be ensured. “The Committee will have to suggest how best we can use the land at various sites so that productive assets which are self-sustained by the Estates Department are created on ground,” he added.
The Committee will work on broad contours by ensuring that ownership of properties remain with the State Government and bids will be entertained only from local players. Lease periods, both for commercial and non-commercial purposes, will be clearly spelt out, keeping in mind the legal prerequisites. Type designs of the proposed buildings will be conceived after taking into consideration the suitability and availability of land / sites.
The Revenue Minister briefed the Chief Minister about its evacuee property sites available at Gupkar, Indra Nagar, Zewan and Hyderpora on which adequate infrastructure will be raised by the Custodian Department out of its own resources for renting these out to the Estates Department so that it is able to overcome the shortage of accommodation.
The site at Gupkar envisages construction of a cluster of bungalows with uniform facade and common facilities while the land at Indra Nagar is proposed for construction of flatted accommodation. The creation of additional infrastructure will improve intake capacity for visiting tourists, especially during peak season in the summer capital, where Estates Department has hired assets of J&K Tourism Development Corporation.
Earlier, the Chief Minister was informed about the acute shortage of Government accommodation, both at Jammu and Srinagar, compelling the Estates Department to book hotels and private residential houses. The Estates Department is able to provide official accommodation to only 2600 employees while as there is a shortfall of 6000 to meet its immediate requirement, the Chief Minister was informed.
The Chief Minister was also briefed about the projects the Estates Department has conceived that envisage going vertical by constructing multi-storied structures at Jawahar Nagar in Srinagar and Gandhi Nagar at Jammu, for which concept plans are at various stages of formulation.
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