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| CM smells vested interests blocking development | | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Nov 22
Strongly favouring participation of builders and estate developers from other parts of country for creating housing and business infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today smelled some vested interests coming in the way of Public Private Partnership.
While speaking at the Golden Jubilee Celebrations J&K Cooperative Housing Cooperation here this evening, the Chief Minister referred to the opposition raised by the separatists and others when expression of interest was invited last year for developing tourism infrastructure in the Kashmir Valley. The Chief Minister, however, did not name any party or person specific who were opposing the new development paradigm. "If we need development, we have to fight the vested interests who do not want the State to raise infrastructure through public private partnership", Azad added.
He said the PPP was the answer for this problem and when the government tried to attract private partnership for raising tourism infrastructure in Kashmir some vested interests that were against development, spread the canard that the valley was being put on sale. He said major builders from big cities of the country were interested in developing residential colonies in the State under PPP and asked the cooperative housing corporation to explore the possibility in Jammu, saying it would solve its problem of finances as well as ensure timely completion of projects. He said the State government would extend all possible help to cooperative societies for setting up residential colonies.
The Chief Minister said the two capital cities were expanding rapidly with rural migration taking place at a higher pace during the last two decades. He said pressure of rural migration on both Srinagar and Jammu cities had badly affected basic facilities like drinking water, sanitation and sewerage. Another problem, he said, was that agriculture land was used for constructions leading to a situation where the agriculture produce could be the worst casualty. He said if the trend was not stopped the State might have to soon import 80 percent of food grains from other states and if, God forbid, there was a drought in the country, the first casualty would be Jammu & Kashmir. He said paddy land was also being converted into orchards, thereby further depleting the food grains production. He said for developing housing colonies there was need for identifying barren land instead of utilizing agricultural land. He called for formulating a policy in this regard and also stressed on the need to have vertical instead of horizontal constructions in view of the paucity of land.
Azad said that when he was the union minister for housing & urban development, the central government had initiated the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban National Renewal Mission for the integrated development of major and small cities across the country. He said while the rest of the states received 50 percent funds from the centre under the scheme, J&K was the only state to receive special treatment and 90 percent funds. He said about Rs. 13,000 crore would be spent on development of the cities and towns in the State, adding that Jammu and Srinagar cities alone would get Rs. 8000 crore worth infrastructure development in sewerage, drinking water, roads and solid waste management. He said in the coming four years all major and small cities and towns of the State would development wise present a changed picture.
The Chief Minister said that there was need for planned development of housing colonies in the newly created districts to disallow haphazard growth as well as to meet the likely growing demand of accommodation. He asked the housing cooperatives to seize the opportunity and start the work in the right earnest. He said if the development was not planned these districts might also go the way of other cities in terms of unplanned growth of constructions and resultant problems. |
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