Srinagar gets major facelift with major development projects completing in the year-end

The Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Baseer Ahmed Khan, on Tuesday said that with the completion of major projects by November 2020, Srinagar will get a major facelift.

He said this during a review meeting of various projects in the city.

The meeting was attended by District Development Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Chowdhary, Chief Engineer R&B, PHE and Irrigation, CMO Srinagar, ADC Srinagar and other senior officials of various departments.

The Divisional Commissioner asked the officials to start working on new power schedule with less curtailments as the Alesteng Grid station is being commenced in coming days to improve the power scenario in the City.

While seeking the status report of retrieval of encroached land, Khan said that concerned officials will be held responsible for the encroachments in their respective domains.

“Wherever there is land retrieval, proper fencing should be done and a land bank be created by the concerned department,” he added.

The ADC Srinagar was asked to coordinate with the concerned departments to monitor the status of land retrieval on a regular basis.

Regarding the preparation for the tourism season, Khan asked the concerned officials to carry out an audit of lighting system in tourism spots and replace the defunct lights at the earliest.

He also asked the officials to carry out a review of the flood management plan and make the embankments strong wherever necessary, besides initiating action against people resorting to illegal mining.

He also directed the concerned officials to list the buildings which would be used as disaster management centres in case of exigency.

The Divisional Commissioner directed the officials to complete all the paperwork regarding the smart city project by March 1.

Srinagar Deputy Commissioner, Shahid Chowdhary, gave a detailed presentation about the various projects and initiatives being taken in hand for making Srinagar one of the vibrant cities in the country.

The DC informed the meeting about the status of identification, legal process, retrieval mapping, and utilisation of encroached land in Srinagar.

He informed the meeting that Rs 3.54 crore has been earmarked under the Capex budget 2019-20 for augmentation of the power sector in Srinagar.

The DC also informed the meeting about the status of different projects, including construction of Western Foreshore Road from Kohna Khan-Dalgate to Saida Kada, establishment of smart library in the down town area, flyover space management, four laning of road from Highland Motors Church up to Badami Bagh Cantonment gate, establishment of e-libraries, smart metering of water connections and SCADA.

Regarding the augmentation of drinking water supply network in Srinagar, he informed that Rs 71.15 core has been earmarked for completion of 16 projects which includes Rs 3.10 crore by the district administration under SADP for enhancement of distribution capacity.