Metro Rail Project in J&K to be approved by next week; says Hardeep Singh Puri

JAMMU, OCTOBER 14: The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Development, Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said the metro rail project for twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be approved by next week.

The Jammu and Kashmir Government had last month submitted the revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) of metro lite rail for Srinagar and Jammu cities to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) for approval and funding purposes. The ministry had earlier asked th government to rework the project and suggested some inputs form incorporation in the revised DPR.

The Minister, while e-inaugurating and laying e-foundation stones of many development projects of Jammu city at Convention Centre here, also said that the demand of LPG Gas pipeline for J&K will also be given a top priority by the Government, adding there will be no compromise on the development agenda and timelines for completion of the projects are set in advance like Central Vista Project for which the deadline has been set before 26th January, 2022. He also mentioned that the projects are being completed before their deadlines under the current government.

Saying that many schemes under the present government are reaching to their saturation points, the Minister said that under PM Ujjwala Yojana 1.0, eight crore LPG connections have been provided to the beneficiaries. He also said that timely implementation of all schemes has been stressed by this Government.

The Minister also said that after the abrogation of Article 370, the development projects that were languishing from years in J&K, have been taken up and many have been completed in these years. He further mentioned that the development paradigms have now changed in J&K which is evident from the fact that the development works have achieved a pace under the new administration and are now completed within a timeline in J&K.

On the occasion, the Minister distributed assistance to beneficiaries under various Government schemes – PMAY, MUMKIN, Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), PM Ujjwala and PM Svanidhi (Street Vendor Card Distribution).

Puri also e-inaugurated 800 LPM Oxygen Generation Plant at Government Hospital, Sarwal, Jammu, Integrated Solid Waste Management System in 78 ULBs, Façade Lighting &Illumination of Bahu Fort, 164 KLD Septage Treatment Plant at Bhagwati Nagar, Revamping of Urban Infrastructure in 76 ULBs. The Minister also laid e-foundation stone of Facade Lighting at four Tawi Bridges &Construction of R.C.C Nallah & Development of Park (phase-II) in lower Roop Nagar.

Jugal Kishore Sharma, Member of Parliament from Jammu said that after Sh. Narendra Modi took oath as the PM of India, many new schemes and programmes have been launched for the welfare of the people. He also said that a new dawn of development has been set in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370 which is evident from the fact that the benefits of schemes & programmes are reaching to its actual beneficiaries in J&K.

Chander Mohan Gupta, Mayor Jammu Municipal Corporation; Pankaj K. Singh, Joint Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, GoI; Dhiraj Gupta, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, J&K; Sujoy Chaudhary, Executive Director, IOCL; Anshul Garg, DC Jammu and Avny Lavasa, Chief Executive Officer JSCL were also present at the function.