Wednesday, April 29, 2009

"Govt fails to resolve water crises in J&K"

The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) has plans of highlighting the problems being faced by people in the state through demonstrations and rallies. Stating this the leader of the Panthers Party in the Assembly, Harsh Dev Singh, said that the ruling coalition of the National Conference and the Congress has been hit by inertia with the result basic problems of people were not being looked into. 
Harsh Dev said that the Government has not taken any immediate step for increasing drinking water supply to people in the Jammu region. He said it is amazing that successive state Governments had failed in resolving the drinking water scarcity even in the state's winter capital. He said that the state Government has equally failed in persuading the union Ministry of Urban Development in giving sanction to the two ambitious projects which could reduce the water scarcity problem in Jammu and Srinagar cities. He said that several months ago the state Government had submitted two schemes, one estimated to cost Rs.338.74 crores and the other Rs.535 crores for augmenting water supply in Srinagar and Jammu cities respectively. But so far there has been no word from the union Ministry. 
Harsh Dev said that since January last the ruling coalition has not initiated any measure for ameliorating the lot of people in the state. He said that the state had witnessed "paralysis" in the functioning of the administrative machinery. He alleged that peoples' cases kept on pending in different Government departments because of delay in ministerial sanction. He said that so long the size of the ministry was not increased work in Government offices and the civil secretariat would continue to suffer. He said the Panthers Party will agitate against these issues.



People’s involvement in conservation of water bodies emphasizesd


Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Tara Chand has called for involving people in the conservation of water bodies and other natural resources in the state adding that this would help supplement the efforts already being made to achieve this objective. He said Jammu and Kashmir has been blessed with umpteen natural resources and beauty and there is dire need to preserve these for posterity.
Chairing a high-level meeting at Srinagar today, the Deputy Chief Minister said that water bodies and other resources give Jammu and Kashmir a place of pride in the world and “all of us should strive to maintain the beauty and grandeur of these gifts from nature”. He stressed for launching an awareness campaign among the masses to educate them about the conservative measures as also about improving sanitation. Mr. Tara Chand called for greater coordination among the concerned departments for improving the civic amenities in Srinagar and Jammu cities as also other towns in the State. He said that an exercise should be undertaken to identify all the land available with the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Srinagar Development Authority and other departments so that it is put to proper use and utilized for creating assets. He directed for making inventory of this exercise.   The Deputy Chief Minister instructed the officers to submit a weekly report about the progress made under various development schemes and measures taken to remove encroachments and illegal structures, if any. He said the Master Plan formulated for Srinagar city should be adhered to and no deviation should be made. He asked for ensuring proper land use in the cities and towns saying this would add to the efforts made for providing better amenities to the people in these areas.  Mr. Tara Chand said that Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, Srinagar Municipal Corporation and Srinagar Development Authority have an important role to play in the development of Srinagar city and extending improved urban facilities to the dwellers. He said the beautification and sanitation efforts would receive a boost if people are educated about the same.  Among others, Vice-Chairman, LAWDA, Mr. Irfan Yaseen, Vice-Chairman, Srinagar Development Authority, Mr. Baseer Ahmad Khan, Director, Local Bodies, Mr. G.A. Qureshi and Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Mr. Farooq Ahmad Renzu were present.