MP, Er Ghulam Ali Khatana reviews developmental activities in Bandipora district

BANDIPORA, March 02: Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Er Ghulam Ali Khatana on Thursday convened a meeting of officers to review the developmental projects and implementation of centrally sponsored schemes especially the schemes for the upliftment of tribal community.

The meeting was attended by Additional District Development Commissioner (ADDC) Bandipora Ali Afsar Khan, Joint Director Planning (JDP) Imtiyaz Ahmed, Nodal Officer Coordinator M A Hakak, ASP Aashiq Tak, President MC Bandipora Basharat Husain, President MC Hajin, SDM Sumbal all district officers and PRI members.

At the outset, the ADDC briefed the MP about the developmental plans of the district.

While counting the achievements in the district, ADDC said  the administration carried out major dredging and desilting of Wullar lake at the cost of Rs 164 Cr restoring the lake to original condition by desilting 78.32 lac cubic meters of silt besides generating a revenue of Rs 24 crores from auctioned willows from the lake. He said 6 km long choked Naz Nallah was also desilted.

Khan informed that the power infrastructure received a major boost with augmentation of capacity from 50 to 100 MVA at 132/33KV Grid Station at Potushai besides construction of bridge at Zalpora, Mini Secretariat at Dawar and Polytechnic College.

Meeting was further informed that projects which were completed included construction of a 30-bedded IPD hospital at Gurez, construction of ITI gurez and transit accommodation at Odina.

He said the district witnessed visible transformation in road connectivity as over 440 km length of roads have been macadamized in three years, registering a record while PMGSY connected 41 new habitations through a web of roads in remote areas.

It was given out that a new 290 km road length has been sanctioned under NABARD with 112 Cr of annual investment while work is in progress on 107 minor roads.

The District Administration has also started work on construction of a walkway on the banks of Wullar, he added.

Officers informed that the district received National Award for e-Governance on e- Governance at Hyderabad, Telangana for the innovative digital product “Panchayat Development Index (PDI)’’ launched by the District Administration.

While informing the meeting about the major road projects under execution in tribal areas, ADDC Bandipora said work is in progress for construction of Kota Sathri road, SK Payeen to Changali road, Khawaja Sahib to Chanpal Chittebandai road, Sunkar Ranghama Gujjarpati Goriwan road to Bandipora, upgradation of Quilmuqam to Hapatnar including Tangpathri Turk Mohalla, Reshwari and Munawarabad link, construction of Shokbaba Gujjar Pati Chadi road and Achoora Byepass road.

He informed the chair that BEACON also completed 72 Kilometer Bandipora-Gurez road and Dawar-Chakwali road.

ADDC informed the MP that huge infrastructure is coming up in the water supply sector and an output of 3 crore liters of water can be filtered every day in the district and this will be a breakthrough.

Regarding Aap Ki Zameen Aap Ki Nigrani initiative, the Parliamentarian was informed that over 8 lakh Revenue records have been digitized while 10,000 land encroachments have been removed during special drives. Over one lac passbooks have also been generated and issued to people at their doorsteps.

In the education sector 70 percent external financial support has been provided by district administration to the department under convergence besides organising talent hunt, exposure conferences and National Science Mela. It was given out that 146 smart classrooms have been established.

The officer also informed about activities to uplift the tourism sector in the district and said that a record number of tourists visited Gurez and other tourist places in the district last year.

On the occasion, Joint Director Planning presented a detailed presentation of the developmental journey of the district from past few years.

While explaining the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, JDP Imtiyaz Ahmad said Rs 440 crores investment in the sector will ensure that pure drinking water reaches every household.

He said 226 works are under execution while 151 VAPs have been approved by PRIs and Pani Samities.

Khatana appreciated the officers for doing a commendable job. He took feedback on each project and discussed the bottlenecks that are hindering their progress. He urged the officers to expedite the work to complete the targets well in time.

He also listened to demands of various delegations like SHGs, tribal communities from Gurez and Bandipora and from PRIs. They apprised the parliamentarian about demands including Roads, staff in schools, upgradation of Hajin Hospital, argumentation of power infra.

Khatana gave patient hearing to the delegations and assured them their grievances will be taken to logical conclusion.