STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Tuesday conducted an extensive tour of Jammu City and inspected ongoing works at Jambu Zoo and other developmental works being executed here under Smart City Mission.
Calls for 3rd-party audit of JK Minerals
JAMMU: Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Tuesday emphasised the need for a third-party audit to evaluate the performance of the mines under Jammu and Kashmir Minerals Limited. Chaired 175th board meeting of JK Minerals, the Chief Secretary said the audit would assess whether the mines are operating at their optimal condition and determine if there is potential to generate more employment within these mining facilities.
Dr Mehta also called for the development of a mining plan, with expert consultation, to increase the output of the Kalakote coal mines.
The Chief Secretary urged upon the Corporation that all of their activities should aim at boosting the economy of Jammu & Kashmir. He commended the corporation’s financial records over the past three years and suggested holding quarterly meetings for better coordination and implementation of decisions.
During the meeting, the Board unanimously agreed that in order to avail the funding under NMET (National Mineral Exploration Trust), J&K Minerals Limited shall surrender the Lease Hold Rights of Sapphire Mine so that Ministry of Mines can take up the work. Furthermore, the Board approved e-Auction of rough sapphire to promote transparency . The Board members in attendance included Secretary Planning Development & Monitoring, Dr Raghav Langer; Secretary Mining, Amit Sharma; Director, Geology & Mining, OP Bhagat; Managing Director, JKML, Vikram Gupta; DG Codes, SL Pandita besides officers from other concerned Departments.
He was accompanied by Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar; Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Avny Lavasa; Chief Wildlife Warden, Suresh Kumar Gupta; Regional Wildlife Warden; Wildlife Warden Jambu Zoo besides Engineers of JPDCL, Jal Shakti, PWD, and other concerned officers.
Dr Mehta visited Jambu Zoo at Nagrota which is nearing completion and took stock of ongoing works there.
The Chief Wildlife Warden gave a detailed presentation on the works carried out so far. It was informed that the work on cafeteria and parks had been completed while the work on parking, animal enclosures are in the final stages of completion.
The Chief Secretary also sought other important details regarding the prestigious project including details of animals and birds to become part of the Zoo after its completion.
Dr Mehta directed the concerned officers to closely supervise the works and expedite the ongoing works for opening of the Zoo to public.
Responding to the issue of water supply to the Zoo, the Chief Secretary asked the Engineers of Jal Shakti Department to follow up on the NOCs from the Ministry of Defence and ensure water supply at the earliest.
He also issued directions for expediting facilities like ticketing system, security, services like cafeteria so that the completed part of the zoo could be thrown open for public as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary also conducted Jammu city tour and inspected the ongoing pathways/footpath and Junction improvement projects being executed under Jammu Smart City Mission. He inspected the progress of work at various locations, including Gandhi Nagar, Panama Chowk, University Road and Bahu Fort area.
The concerned officers apprised him of the present status of work and future work plan. Dr Mehta directed the executing agencies to further increase the pace of work on all the works and complete them at the earliest.
Later, Chief Secretary inspected Development of Tawi River Front. Regarding the project the Chief Executive Officer, Jammu Smart City Limited, Rahul Yadav apprised him of works completed so far besides present status of work and future plans.
It was informed that work on machinery mobilization, grating, centre making, topographic survey etc have been completed while work on construction of diaphragms is in full swing.
While taking a round of various spots of ongoing works Dr Mehta directed concerned officials to clear bottlenecks, if any, and expedite the pace of work for timely completion of this significant project. He also instructed them to ensure that quality parameters of each work are strictly adhered to.
While inspecting work on Tawi barrage the CS issued strict directions to the executing agencies to set weekly targets and ensure completion of the project in a time bound manner. He even directed them to consider issuing notices to contractors whose performance is not found satisfactory.
Chief Secretary also inspected the progress on Package 1 of Jammu Akhnoor Road Project nearing Bhagwati Nagar rotary to Canal Head. The Engineers of NHIDCL informed that the land acquisition process has been completed and the work on construction and raising the pillars for flyover is in progress to complete the work within the fixed deadline.
Dr Mehta also directed Divisional Commissioner Jammu to develop surface parking on available vacant land near 4th Tawi bridge (Bhagwati Nagar) within two months so that the same is ready for use during the upcoming Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra and also caters to the visitors coming to watch the Tawi River Front after its beautification and development.
