POONCH: In a series of meetings convened to review the functioning of Public Works Department (PWD), Public Health Engineering (PHE) and Irrigation and Flood Control (I and FC) Departments, District Development Commissioner, Poonch, Mohammad Hussain Malik, directed all the concerned Executive Engineers (XENs) to prioritise the development projects to ensure that all the ongoing projects are completed in a fixed time frame.
Reviewing all the ongoing road projects under various central and State sponsored schemes in the district including Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the DDC directed the XENs PWD and PMGSY to revivify their field functionaries and work in a concerted mode to speed up the pace of work on the ongoing projects. While recognising certain bottlenecks which have led to some projects being held up, he assured them all the help to get every hindrance cleared. Assuring the XENs of PMGSY of expediting all the pending land acquisition cases, he instructed them to strictly follow the PMGSY guidelines, speed up the execution of work and put to use all the completed roads. He also directed them to work in coordination with the Rural Development Department (RDD) by formulating a convergence plan to involve RDD in quarrying, plantation along the road sides, minor excavations and other labour intensive components of the relevant projects.
In a detailed power point presentation by the XEN PWD, Kabir Hussain Shah, and XENs PMGSY, Abdul Ghani Jagil and Manzoor Ahmed Jagil, the DDC reviewed the progress of every project and fixed specific dates for their completion. Taking serious note of the stalled projects especially where land acquisition has been completed, he instructed XENs of PMGSY not to compromise with the technical aspect of the projects and get help of the law enforcement agencies wherever required to get the stalled works resumed. He also reviewed in detail the progress of the mini secretariats at Poonch and Mendhar.
Meanwhile, in another meeting with the PHE and Irrigation and Flood Control Departments, the DDC reviewed the progress of several water supply schemes, canal and flood control projects.
Reviewing the progress he had a detailed power point presentation of all the ongoing water supply schemes by XEn PHE, Swarn Singh,
DDC apart from setting fixed dates for progress on all the incomplete projects directed him to put in place a mechanism to ensure the safety of all the water reservoirs in the district round the clock. In view of the rainy season in the district, which leads to contamination of springs, he instructed him to activate the mobile tankers for clean water supply to the affected areas. XEn Irrigation and Flood Control was instructed to put in a plan for reclaiming the land around the Poonch River and Betar Nala.
