STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Following his ‘abject surrender’ to the whims of Peoples Democratic Party over issues pertaining to the Jammu region, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Saturday came under severe attack from the Jammu based opposition parties.
Accusing BJP of fooling people of Jammu over the issue of AIIMS and the artificial lake project, Congress demanded resignation of the Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh.
“He (Deputy Chief Minister) should resign on moral grounds,” senior Congress leader Sham Lal Sharma told reporters here.
He accused the BJP of fooling the people of Jammu and that the Saffron party has surrendered to its coalition partner PDP. “It is not only surrender but the Saffron party has fallen flat in front of PDP. The BJP which sold dreams to the people of Jammu before elections is now itself sold to PDP for the sake of power,” Sharma said.
“First they (BJP) surrendered AIIMS to Kashmir and now they have shelved the artificial lake project on which around Rs 60 crore has already been spent,” he said.
He said that the Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh was not aware of the ground situation and terming the artificial lake project as unviable was a proof of his ignorance over the issue.
“If the decision has been taken to appease Pakistan who might have objected on the construction of the lake on Tawi then it is really unfortunate and a probe must be held on this,” he said.
Accusing BJP of breach of trust of the people of Jammu, Sharma said BJP stands exposed in Jammu as the party has surrendered all the dreams and aspirations of the people of Jammu to appease the Kashmir-centric parties. Sharma said his party would launch an agitation to make sure that the people of Jammu get back their rights. “We will fight till the last drop of our blood. We are not against the setting up of AIIMS in Kashmir but we will fight until Jammu also gets AIIMS,” he said.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had on Friday hinted at shelving of the previous NC-Congress government’s artificial lake project in Jammu, saying it is not feasible.
However, asserting that the artificial lake on river Tawi is a dream project of Jammu people, Nirmal Singh later said the Centre has assured its help in ironing out technical problems to complete the project.
Vice Presidents Mula Ram, Raman Bhalla, Chief Spokesman Ravinder Sharma, General Secretaries Th. Balwan Singh, Manjit Singh and Ch. Shah Mohd were also present in the press conference.
Reacting sharply over the proposed government move, Jammu and Kashmir National Panther’s Party said, “Shelving of artificial lake project here and reported shifting of AIIMS to Kashmir will take a toll on Jammu’s ‘pride and honour’. Senior Congress leader Mohinder Bhardwaj also expressed surprise and anguish over the statement of Chief Minister on the issues of artificial lake and AIIMS for Jammu and said that it is a matter of utter concern for the people of this region.
“While the Chief Minister showed temerity in denying Jammu the projects, the Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and entire BJP leadership of the State seemed to have succumbed to the pressure”, he said adding that It is ironic that while the people of Jammu had expressed their utmost faith in the BJP and gave the party 25 MLAs they have in turn let down the region.
Bhardwaj wondered as to what technical expertise does Sayeed has to suo motu declare the lake project as unviable. “He should come clear on this issue and make public any technical study got done either by the previous government or the present regime in regard to viability of the project”, he added.
He said Sayeed’s stand on the lake project is purely political in nature and will be fraught with dangerous consequences for the state which has with great difficulty achieved peace and tranquility and is on road to bridge gulf between two regions of the state. The mindless cancellation of the lake project will deprive Jammu of a big chance to enhance its tourism potential as the project will benefit entire areas downstream Tawi river which is inhabited by poor and lower middle class people, he added.
Bhardwaj demanded that Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh should publically clear his and his party’s stand on the AIIMS and Tawi lake projects.
Bhardwaj also reminded Sayeed that moves such as scrapping projects meant for any of the three regions of the state should be handled with care as mindless approach will again foment regional tensions.
“Many other projects particularly meant for Kashmir will also have to pass the viability test if Sayeed’s intention is clear”, he added.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) Jammu has also expressed deep anguish and concern on the statement of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, ruling out the sanction of AIIMS for Jammu and also the decision of shelving the project of artificial lake due to non feasibility.
The meeting held under the Presidentship of Rakesh Gupta, President CCI said that these two decisions have been taken without any proper survey and application of mind.
The CCI stated that the sanctioning of AIIMS for Jammu is a central subject and not a state subject hence the Chief Minister should not have deliberated upon the said issue.
Questioning the shelving of artificial lake project on the ground of non-feasibility, the CCI asked the Chief Minister to come out with the facts and figures and the balance sheets of various other projects of the government / corporations / J and K Government. The Chamber said that all the major projects run by the government are already running into losses of thousands of crores including the fiscal position of the state government. The Chamber questioned to the state government that who did the survey earlier to check the feasibility of the Tawi Artificial Lake Project. The meeting further said that issuance of such statements by the head of the state will only lead to regional divide.
The Chamber also asked BJP who is part and parcel of this coalition government to come clean on both the issues of AIIMS and artificial lake. At the same time the Chamber appealed to the business community, Civil Society of Jammu and the people at large to be mentally prepared for a big agitation to get justice for Jammu region.
All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association asked the Coalition Government to define their agenda of good governance and transparency during their rule as nothing of the sort has appeared on the ground in their two months rule so far.
Speaking in a meeting, President of the Association, Inderjeet Khajuria felt offended over Mufti’s statement, where he declared shelving of prestigious artificial lake project in Jammu on flimsy ground. Artificial lake project was started during 2010-11 and massive Rs 60 crore stands spent taking the project to nearing completion for construction of 17 diversion channels, he added.
Referring to the recent meeting of Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh with Union Resources Minister, Uma Bharti pressing her for extending support for completion of River Tawi artificial lake project, Khajuria sought clarification from Deputy Chief Minister about his stand as he too was present in the press conference.
Khajuria said that in view of economic hardship coupled adverse factors train-link extension Katra being one, tourism related Jammu traders have been day dreaming the early completion of this prestigious project to make Jammu as attraction for tourists to make as independent destination as less than 2 per cent of pilgrims/tourists out of more than one crore bound for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine touch Jammu.
“Mufti befooled Jammuites to develop banks of Jammu Tawi instead of artificial lake, which is next to impossible as the Tawi banks included Tawi bed at places has already been encroached upon,” Khajuria mentioned.
Others who expressed their similar views include Pawan Gupta, Baldev Raj, Harbans Singh, Rajesh Gupta, Vinod Jandiyal, M.L Sharma, Gurdarshan Singh, Varinder Gupta and Amjad Afridi.
