STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The CAG has rebuked the Jammu Development Authority for failing to achieve the objectives of the Master Plan for the winter capital.
“The objectives of the Master plan could not be achieved due to non-preparation of divisional, zonal and annual action plans (of Jammu),” the Comptroller and Auditor General of India said in its report for the year ended March 31, 2015.
A CAG report for the year ended March 31, 2007, had said the implementation of the First Master Plan (1974-94) suffered to a large extent due to non-preparation of zonal plans as only 10-15 per cent of proposals were implemented, it said.
After being pointed out in October 2014 the Chief Town Planner stated in January 2015 that zonal development plans could not be formulated due to non-availability of qualified manpower, it said.
The CAG report said that this indicated that the authority had not assessed or addressed its manpower requirement “despite being in existence for more than 44 years.”
It was also observed that the plan for development of residential areas and checking unauthorised growth in Phase-I had not been prepared by January 2015 in spite of the fact that survey and contouring of areas was got done in July 2008 through an agency at a cost of Rs 21 lakh, the report said.
Rule 13 of the J&K Development Rules 1976 read with Master Plan require a periodic review of the Master Plan to be conducted every five years.
The CAG said its audit noticed the authority initiated the process of revision of the Master Plan belatedly in July 2010 and engaged the services of Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University, Ahmedabad, in March 2011 for revising and preparing the Master Plan-2031 with a 10-year perspective. CAG report said the revision of the Plan was to be completed within eleven months.
Though a payment of Rs 27.25 lakh had been made in March 2013 to the consultant, the draft Master Plan had not been submitted by January 2015. According to JDA officials, the Master plan has not be revised yet.
