Early Times Report
Jammu, May 19: Amid the fanfare the projects of ring road in Jammu and Srinagar were inaugurated on Saturday by Prime Minister Modi, but what the state government has tried to undermine is that fact that discrimination was once again adopted with Jammu region, with Kashmir valley sanctioned Rs 460 crores more than Jammu. Modi on November 7, 2015 announced a whopping economic package of Rs 80,000 cr for various developmental projects in the state. However, the work on most of the projects is either going on at a snail's pace or is in limbo due to the reasons best known to the R&B ministry of the state. As per the official documents in possession of Early Times, out of the Rs 80,000 cr package of the Prime Minister, an estimated Rs 42,668 cr was kept for R&B projects in the state. Out of the sum, Rs 2700 cr was kept for Bharat Mala project. The projects in the state were proposed to be taken up under Bharat Mala for length of about 105 kms covered under tourist connectivity.
As per the documents, out of the Rs 80K crore package, the government had claimed last year that Rs 1400 cr were proposed for construction of semi ring road in Jammu, Rs 2700 cr for projects proposed to be taken up under Bharat Mala for length of about 105 kms covered under tourist connectivity, Rs 130 cr for construction of double lane and Batote-Kishtwar-Sinthanpass-Anantnag (NH-IB, now NH-244), Rs 1800 cr for Srinagar-Shopian-Qazigund (2-Lane PS+Major Bridges), Rs 5100 cr for Jammu-Akhnoor-Poonch (2 Lane PS/4 Lane), Rs 2100 cr for Chennani-Sudhmahadev-Goha including 3.0 km long tunnel (2 Lane PS), Rs 4153 cr for Pakal Dul project subject to environmental clearance.
"The fact is that the fast track working is missing. If any other state would have been given such a whopping sum, it would have transformed itself into a prosperous place but here everything turns flat in the end," said the officials. For the construction of the Ring Road project, Kashmir Valley has been sanctioned Rs 1860 cr while as for the same project in Jammu region, the government has sanctioned Rs 460 cr less than Kashmir which is 1400 cr. "This is discriminatory approach and tantamount to taking the people of the Jammu region for granted. This has to be stopped or else there would be no accountability within the government functioning. The state authorities cannot adopt two different yard sticks for the same projects. How could Rs 460 crores more be incurred in Kashmir. It simply means the authorities are making the decisions focussed on appeasement," says an official privy to the development. The central government last year in April sanctioned Rs 43 billion for two ring road projects in Jammu & Kashmir. |
