Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, June 20: The much delayed proposal for setting up a multi-crore high-tech Institute of Driving in Jammu is likely to see light of the day very soon as the State Transport Department has almost settled down all the technical observations of the Union Ministry of Surface Transport in this regard and also succeeded to take possession of the allotted land for this Centrally funded project.
Further, another major project of setting up an Inspection and Certification Centre for complete scientific examining of mechanical fitness of the vehicles is also in the pipeline and Detailed Project Report of the same has been sent to the Ministry of Surface Transport for its formal clearance as well as release of funds while land for this project has been earmarked at Samba.
According to official sources, the State Transport authorities have positively responded to all the technical observations of the Union Ministry of Surface Transport and submitted the DPR to Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) Pune for final clearance of the project.
The State has agreed to take private vehicle manufacturers on board and given an undertaking for forming a society to run the Driving Institute on mutual sharing basis, sources added and explained that deliberations in this regard were made with Maruti Suzuki Ltd, Ashoka Leyland and Tata Motors Pvt Ltd.
The things are in final stage and the State Government is likely to accord a formal approval immediately after the end of ongoing budget session of the State Assembly, sources informed.
Further, sources said, another major hurdle in kick starting work on the project has also been cleared as the Transport authorities have managed to take possession of the land at village Ghaink near Bhalwal, which was already transferred by the State Government to the Department in 2014 but had been under illegal possession of some locals.
It may be recalled that for examining driving skills, two high-tech Driving Institutes were proposed in the State, one each in Jammu and Srinagar, with an approximate cost of Rs 35 crores. DPR of these high tech schools was prepared and submitted to the Union Ministry of Surface Transport two years back. Further, the State Cabinet had transferred 100 kanals of land to Transport Department at village Ghaink in outskirts of Jammu city for the project. Even as the land was also identified for the Driving Institute in Srinagar at Parimpura area, the same could not be transferred and approved by the State Government due to some technical reasons.
While the proposal for Srinagar could not move further because of non-availability of land, the Jammu project also remained delayed because of non-redressal of some technical observations of CIRT as well as encroachment of the allotted land.
“However, all the required formalities have almost been completed now and the funds for the project are likely to be released by the Union Ministry of Surface Transport within a month,” said Sunil Sharma, J&K Minister of State for Transport (Independent Charge).
He further informed that work on Inspection and Certification Centre is also likely to start soon as DPR of the same is expected to be approved by the Union Ministry of Surface Transport in next few days while land for the project has already been identified at Samba.
“The Government of India has agreed to release Rs 14.40 crore for setting up this Inspection and Certification Centre while the decision to bear exceeding cost of Rs 2.24 crore for the project will be taken by the State Government very soon,” he added.
Since lack of road safety habits and driving skills besides inadequate mechanical fitness of vehicles are major reasons behind road mishaps in the region, the setting up of high-tech Driving Institute and the Inspection & Certification Centre is likely to help in checking the accidents, which claim hundreds of innocent lives every year.
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