The Governor and the Chief Minister jointly inaugurated the 13.65 crore Water Supply Scheme that lifts water from Pai Nallah near Katra and supplies it to Adhkuwari and Bhavan for meeting the requirements of pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. This shrine has assumed far greater significance than what was ordinarily thought of. The influx of pilgrims reaching over a crore during the year 2011 vindicates the vision of the decision makers who had decided to create the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in 1980s. As the shrine has progressed and developed into a social institution of great significance, we have fortunately a team of highly dedicated members of the Board and its executive functionaries who are alive to their responsibilities and duties. The Governor is the Chairman of the Board and N.N. Vohra, with his vast experience and knowledge about the State and its affairs, has consistently taken keen interest in the development of the shrine, in providing more facilities to the pilgrims and in contributing to enhancement of its social role. As a result of influx of pilgrims and the consequential infrastructure needed to support pilgrimage on such a vast scale the town of Katra, the base camp for the uphill march, is going through phenomenal expansion. One can find un- precedential hustle and bustle in its bazaars. And the town is poised to progress by leaps and bounds in years to come. Naturally, the Shrine Board and the Government both are conscious of how the impact of this great influx of pilgrims and related activities needs to be coped with.
There was shortage of water at Adhkuwari and Bhavan stops and pilgrims were facing the difficulty. In 2009, the Shrine Board and the Government jointly approved a water supply project from Pai nallah and fixed a three year time frame for its completion. They agreed to share the expenditure on the project. It is a matter of satisfaction and also an example that given the dedication and responsive attitude to the duties, projects of public utility can be completed within the time frame if not earlier. The construction and completion of this project should be an eye opener to the entire PHE Department which is running scores of projects but is unable to complete most of them within the time frame. Perhaps the labyrinthine red tape and bureaucratic complexities, through which the PHE projects have usually to go, are the real cause of delay. This process has been streamlined by the Shrine Board of Mata Vaishno Devi, and undertaking of projects has been simplified and made result oriented.
The Nav Devian water scheme as it is called, involved the laying of 12 km of pipeline from the source to the final outlet. It is a six stage scheme which has a 30,000 GPH filtration plant at Nav Devian. The Chief Minister was very happy with the time-bound completion of the plant and complimented the PHE department for executing it in two and a half year period. Incidentally, the Chief Minister in his inaugural speech disclosed that the Government had already taken up another multi crore scheme for augmenting the water supply to Katra town. Obviously keeping in mind the fast developing potential of the town and its impact on the economy of the State, the government is envisioning multi-sided development of Katra and the adjoining areas that are closely linked to the pilgrimage. We would wish to take into account the tourist dimension of the ground situation at Katra in the context of the holy shrine. Tourist dimension of the region and its proper publicity through media channels will add the tourism factor to the pilgrimage. Once that is done, tourist industry will get activated. This should be true in the case of may such shrines and places of social importance in Kashmir and other parts of the State. The shrines are among national heritages and these should be managed by almost the same pattern as Mata Vaishno Devi shrine board is running. Lastly, the timely completion of Nav Devian project is an example for the PHE department that given the dedication, a sea change can be brought about in the functioning and completion of projects.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel