KATHUA: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, has issued strict instructions to the administration to check the illegal mining in the district Kathua.
Chairing the DISHA meeting of the district administration and various departments he said that the illegal mining is threatening the erosion of the foundations of some of the vital infrastructure projects including Keerian Gadiyal bridge and expressway corridor. He said these are some of the precious and historic projects of national importance which have been obtained with 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 are allowed to get eroded and lose their functional value.
The Minister asked the SSP and the district Mining Officer to furnish a report about how many illegal mining cases have been brought to work. He also asked why the fine had been reduced on the illegal miners, which has a limit of upto 50,000, and why it has been reduced to a minimal amount which has encouraged the illegal miners to carry on with the crime because when their stakes are in lag, they may not mind paying a small amount.
Dr Jitendra Singh said anybody found involved in illegal mining, whether he is a political high up or holding a high position, should not be spared. And should not only be booked under law, but also be publicly named and shamed.
The Minister also came out heavily on the spreading menace of drug addiction and suggested that a joint community be constituted consisting of the district administration, the police authorities, the public representative, and members of the civil society to check this rapidly spreading drug abuse at different levels.
He said there’s a good news to share that the Ujh Multipurpose Project, which was conceived nearly 100 years ago in 1920s by the then Maharaja, has been now revived and coordination working group has been constituted of the JK UT officers and the Central UT officers. He said that the project has also received a flip because of the intervention of the Home Ministry and the Defense Ministry, who are also now keen to wake up the project in order to check the infiltration route through the river Ujh. He added that once this project becomes functional, it will provide irrigation to thousands of hectares of land, which could go up to even 90,000 hectares. For the surplus water not to be allowed to flow into Pakistan an alternate plans is also being jointly prepared by J&K, Punjab and Central Governments.
The minister informed that the last phase of Shahpur Kandi project, which is a national project that was also revised after four decades with the intervention of Prime Minister Modi, will be completed by 15th of September and the water will start flowing through that for the generation of electricity.
He emphasized that the industrial biotech park in Barnoti, which is the 11th such industrial park in the country and first in North India, will 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 added that the Government Medical College, is presently providing day care, cancer, treatment facility and there is an exercise going on to upscale this and also provide radiation treatment facilities through the experts and security of Tata Memorial Center, Mumbai.
He highlighted that the long-standing demand of Bala Sundri tunnel and the route will also be getting addressed as the government has taken up a road project from Lakhanpur to Doda via Chattra Gala Tunnel, will include this route. Once this plan is complete, the travel distance from Kathua to Billawar will be reduced only to 30, 40 minutes.
The minister said that Kuthua is the first district to come up with 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, 1048 additional bunkers have also been proposed which will bring the total number of family bunkers in the Kathua border areas to nearly 3,000.
North India’s first ever Homeopathy College has been approved for construction. “Very soon, the construction work will start and will cater to the college and the associated hospital will also cater to the neighboring 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, MNREGA, Ayushman Bharat, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, and tube well projects.
The meeting was attended by MLA Jasrota Rajiv Jasrotia, other MLAs from the district, and senior officers of the district administration.
