STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: BJP on Sunday accused the previous NC-Congress Government of abandoning the Shahpur Kandi dam project and said the work on it was resumed after the PDP-BJP dispensation “regularly” raised the issue with the Centre.
“The previous NC-Congress Government abandoned the Shahpur Kandi dam project. The recent signing of an agreement on the prestigious venture between the governments of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir is a historic development which will add to irrigation facilities and power generation,” state BJP General Secretary Narinder Singh told reporters here.
“Since the project was going to be more beneficial to Jammu region, the previous Valley-centric governments did not show any interest in it, which is very unfortunate and highly condemnable,” he said.
The construction of the project, located in Punjab’s Gurdaspur, was taken up in May 1999. The work was, however, stalled in 2014 following dispute between the two states.
“Upon completion, the mega project is going to benefit the rural population of Kathua and Samba districts of Jammu region,” he said.
Singh said the inking of the agreement with the help of the Union government is also reflective of the concern of Prime Minister Narendra Modi toward accelerating the work on newly commissioned projects and resume all such important projects which came to halt during the tenure of the previous governments in the state.