Excelsior Correspondent
KISHTWAR, Apr 5: Union Minister and BJP Candidate for Udhampur, Doda, Kathua Lok Sabha constituency Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that neglected by Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi transformed Kishtwar into North India’s “power hub”.
Addressing a series of public meetings during his election campaign in the upper and peripheral reaches of Kishtwar in areas like Bonjwah, Kuntwara, Dachhan, Marwah, Warwan, etc. Dr Jitendra Singh said, right from the time of independence when Kishtwar was part of erstwhile district Doda the elected representatives of Congress and allies from here always enjoyed considerable clout and the local MLA was invariable a Minister in the State Cabinet while the MP from here always a Minister in the Union Cabinet. In spite of this, he said, it will be a question to be asked why Kishtwar did not receive the kind of attention that it deserved till Prime Minister Modi took over in 2014.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, while Congress led Governments in the past exploited the Hindu and Muslim communities for their vote bank interests, it is for the first time after independence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the same esteem to every section of society.
As for the entire region of Kishtwar is concerned, Dr Jitendra Singh said, from a neglected remote area, it has emerged as North India’s power hub and has undergone amazing transformation in the last 10 years which is to be seen to be believed.
Dr Jitendra Singh said today that 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.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that 6 to 7 major Hydro power projects have come in the region in a short span of 9 to 10 years ever since Narendra Modi took over as the 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 completion 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 direct as well as indirect opportunities for the local people.
For six long decades, said Dr Jitendra Singh, the successive Governments at the Centre and the State had ignored Kishtwar region because of their vote bank politics. For example, he said, for several years, people here had been agitating and demanding a Degree College for Paddar but Congress and National Conference Governments deliberately ignored this demand. It was only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over in 2014 that a Degree college was sanctioned for Paddar under Centre’s scheme RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan).
Citing another example, Dr Jitendra Singh said that before 2014, road travel to Kishtwar was cumbersome and on the slightest landside, the Doda-Kishtwar road got blocked. But today, the road travel time from Jammu to Kishtwar has reduced from over 7 hours in 2014 to less than 5 hours now. Similarly, he said, during these 9 years, Kishtwar has come up on the Aviation Map of India and has been sanctioned an airport under Centre’s UDAAN Scheme, which nobody had ever imagined.
Similarly, Dr Jitendra Singh said, new national highways, a series of Degree Colleges, mobile towers enroute Machail Yatra and other remote areas have also come up during the Modi Government, he said.
As for Machail, Dr Jitendra Singh said, mobile towers have been set up, multiple toilet complexes constructed and solar plants installed for regular power supply, and all this happened only after 2014. Not only this, the motorable road to Machail is under fast track construction and the day is not far when Kishtwar to Machail travel would be just about 1.5 to 2 hours, he added.
Former Minister Sunil Sharma, BJP District President Chuni Lal, Tariq Keen, senior leaders Pradip Parihar, Akshay, Rocky Goswami, Sham and other local leaders accompanied Dr Jitendra Singh during the tour.
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