Ujh multipurpose project revived, Shahpur Kandi dam set for Sept 15 completion: Jitendra Singh

Jammu, Aug 13: The Ujh Multipurpose Project, one of the most ambitious projects of Jammu and Kashmir, conceived nearly 100 years ago in the 1920s by the then Maharaja, has now been revived, and a coordination working group of the Union Territory and the Central-UT officers has been constituted.

Besides, the last phase of the Shahpur Kandi project, a national project, will be completed by September 15 this year.

Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh revealed this while chairing the DISHA meeting of the district administration and reviewing developmental projects of various departments in Kathua district on Wednesday.

The Union Minister informed that for the Government Medical College Kathua, which was presently providing a day care cancer treatment facility, there was an exercise going on to upscale it and also provide radiation treatment facilities through the experts and security of Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai.

DISHA is an acronym for District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committees, which meet on a quarterly basis under the chairmanship of the MP(s) concerned.

During the meeting, the union minister also called for strict action against illegal mining in Kathua. He said that the illegal mining was threatening the erosion of the foundations of some of the vital infrastructure projects, including the Keerian Gadiyal bridge and motorway corridor.

He said these were some of the precious and historic projects of national importance that were obtained with the direct intervention and patronage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and therefore, it would be a matter of shame if, for some petty vested games and individual business interests, these projects were allowed to get eroded and lose their functional value.

The minister asked the SSP and the District Mining Officer (DMO) to furnish a report about how many illegal mining cases were brought to work. He also asked why the fine, which had a limit of Rs 50,000, had been reduced for the illegal miners and why it was reduced to a minimal amount, which encouraged the illegal miners to carry on with the crime.

Singh directed that anybody found involved in illegal mining, whether a political high-up or holding a high position, should not be spared.

“The person should not only be booked under law but also be publicly named and shamed,” he instructed.

Coming out heavily on the spreading menace of drug addiction, he suggested that a joint community be constituted consisting of the district administration, the police authorities, the public representative, and members of civil society to check this rapidly spreading drug abuse at different levels.

With regard to the Ujh Multipurpose Project, he said that the project also received a fillip because of the intervention of the Home Ministry and the Defence Ministry, which were also keen to revive the project in order to check the infiltration route through the river Ujh.

“Once this project becomes functional, it will provide irrigation to thousands of hectares of land, which may go up to even 90,000 hectares. For the surplus water not to be allowed to flow into Pakistan, an alternate plan is also being jointly prepared by J&K, Punjab, and the central government,” Singh said.

Regarding the Shahpur Kandi project, a national project that was also revised after four decades with the intervention of Prime Minister Modi, the minister informed that the last phase of it (the Shahpur Kandi project) would be completed by September 15, and the water would start flowing through it for the generation of electricity.

He emphasised that the industrial biotech park in Barnoti, the 11th such industrial park in the country and the first in North India, would become functional in the next few weeks with the involvement of public-private participation.

“This will create avenues of jobs, manufacturing, and business for the youngsters in various areas of bio-manufacturing and hospital instruments,” he said.

Singh highlighted that the long-standing demand of the Bala Sundri tunnel and the route would also be addressed, as the government had taken up a road project from Lakhanpur to Doda via the Chattra Gala Tunnel, including this route.

“Once this plan is complete, the travel distance from Kathua to Billawar will be reduced to only 30-40 minutes,” he said.

The minister said that Kathua was the first district to come up with a family bunker system in the border villages, covering about 2,000.

“The other border areas are also now following this as a role model. Meanwhile, 1,048 additional bunkers have also been proposed, which will bring the total number of family bunkers in the Kathua border areas to nearly 3000,” he shared.

Singh informed us that North India’s first-ever homoeopathy college was also approved for construction in the district.

“Very soon, the construction work will start and will cater to the college, and the associated hospital will also cater to the neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,” he said.

During the meeting, the minister reviewed flagship schemes, including PMGSY, Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, PMAY, Samagra Shiksha, PM SVANidhi, PM MUDRA Yojana, MGNREGA, Ayushman Bharat, horticulture, animal husbandry, and tubewell projects.

The meeting was attended by MLA Jasrota Rajiv Jasrotia, other MLAs from the district, and senior officers of the district administration.