Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 14: Minister for Public Works, Floriculture and Gardens & Parks Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today stressed the need to adhere to specifications and use latest technologies for quality enhancement, usage of latest devices to lay better roads across Jammu and Kashmir.
Bukhari was addressing a review meeting on roads in the State with officials of the Public Works Department and different associations of hot mix plant owners at Banquet Hall here this evening. The meeting was also attended by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Syed Basharat Bukhari.
Stating that there can be no compromise on the quality of roads in the state, the Minister for Public Works stressed on the importance of having best roads in the State. “There are several models across the country for us to look at. Even international best practices can be incorporated. We should become a model state for having the best roads and your sincere cooperation is solicited for this objective,” he emphasized.
Bukhari asked the hot mix plant owners to work in accordance with the methods and follow the designs of the projects of public works while going by the technical standards of good quality.
He said in past Public Works Ministry has received lots of complaints for failing to effectively maintain roads in the State with residents of several towns demonstrating their displeasure. “Some concerns, genuinely so, have been raised regarding the quality of materials used by contractors employed to fix the roads. Let us forget about past and work jointly to make a mark in the history of this department,” Bukhari said.
The Minister for Public Works remarked that there will be an external agency that will monitor the quality of roads being constructed and repaired in the State. “We will ensure that there is no nexus or any sort of devious practices being adopted in construction and maintenance of roads across the State,” Bukhari pledged while underlining the objectives of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed led Government which include good governance, transparency, accountability and probity in the system.
Bukhari said that Government is planning to allow the contractors to procure every construction material required for building of roads provided they fulfill the specifications laid down by the department.
During the meeting, the representatives of the hot mix plant owners while highlighting problems faced by them urged the Minster for Public Works to look into the delay in release of their payments, absence of drainage plan for roads and public awareness in areas where new roads are being constructed or repaired.
The meeting was attended by Chief Engineer Public Works S. K Razdan, Commissioner Srinagar Municipality Tufail Mattoo and Executive Engineers of the Public Works Department.
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