JAMMU : Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Kumar Choudhary today said that Poonch-Tangmarg road project will be taken up with Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways ( MORTH) afresh.
The Deputy Chief Minister was replying to a question raised by Farooq Ahmad Shah and subsequent supplementaries raised by Aijaz Jan and Mohammad Akram Choudhary.
He said that the Poonch-Tangmarg road via Loran has not been sanctioned by the Government of India.
Addressing the concerns raised by the legislators regarding change in alignment of road, the Deputy Chief Minister said that an inquiry will be conducted to resolve the road change issue. He also added that a committee will also be constituted to look into the matter which will be comprised of the concerned officers and authorities.
He further said that it is an important road to connect the Pir-Panjal to Kashmir valley and will boost tourism besides creating employment avenues for the youth. He also added that the road has cultural and societal significance for the people of both the regions.
Drive against encroachments on irrigation canals a regular exercise: Javed Rana
Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmed Rana, today informed the House that the department undertakes coordinated action with the District Administration to remove encroachments from irrigation canals in Bijbehara.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by MLA, Basheer Ahmad Veeri.
The Minister stated that anti-encroachment drive is a continuous process and a total of 39 notices have been served to the general public during the year 2024-25. It further informed that 700 trees have been removed from the Nandi canal.
Regarding desilting and dredging, the Minister said that it is a routine process which is being conducted before onset of the irrigation season under the Convergence programme.
He further informed the House that the Irrigation network in the Srigufwara Bijbehara Constituency relies on the Nandi and Dubji Canals. These canals have leakages and embankment breaches, which are immediately acted upon and encroachments are removed as and when reported.
