Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting at the civil secretariat to review the implementation and progress of mega road projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that during the meeting, the LG took stock of the status of various roads, tunnels, bridges projects under the Central sector, centrally-sponsored and J&K government sector schemes including Prime Minister’s Development Package, Parvatmala, PMGSY, CRIF, NABARD, C&T Macadamisation, Pothole-free Road Programme, Bridge Programme, and Road Sector.
Emphasising dedicated focus to complete the projects within set timelines, he passed explicit directions to streamline the planning, tendering, and execution process.
“It should be ensured that there are no inordinate delays in execution of projects,” the LG said.
He directed the development of a robust system for reporting the damages and potholes on the roads so that corrective measures could be taken at the earliest.
The LG asked the officials to assess the area-specific requirements and prepare project plans accordingly.
On being informed that 132 bridges were being targeted to be completed this year, he advised exploring the feasibility of pre-fabricated short-span bridges in areas where immediate action was required.
Taking serious note of the various vulnerable spots along the roads, the LG instructed installing crash barriers at such places to prevent accidents.
While reviewing the work on Z-Morh Tunnel, he directed the concerned officials to complete the work on the escape tunnel at the earliest.
Referring to various complaints received from different quarters regarding maintenance and repair work of the government infrastructure, the LG directed the officials to take necessary measures in this regard.
The Principal Secretary PWD (R&B) also briefed the chair about the new initiatives taken by the department like Online Management Monitoring and Accounting System, Two-tier Quality Control Mechanism, and Internship Policy-Guidelines and Procedures.
Principal Secretary to the Government, Public Works (R&B) Department Shailendra Kumar briefed the LG about the physical status of NHAI, NHIDCL, BRO (SAMPARK and BEACON), new tunnels, and flyovers under PMDP and PWD projects including Semi-Ring Road Jammu and Srinagar, Udhampur-Ramban section, Ramban-Banihal section, Srinagar-Banihal section, Delhi-Katra-Amritsar Expressway, Jammu-Akhnoor Road, Chenani-Sudhmahadev-Goha-Khellani Road, Khellani-Chatroo-Khanabal Road, Singhpora-Vailoo Tunnel, Zojila Tunnel, Z-Morh Tunnel, Baramulla-Gulmarg Road, Akhnoor-Poonch Road, Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri Road, Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri Road, Poonch-Uri Road, and Srinagar-Shopian-Qazigund Road.
The Principal Secretary PWD (R&B) said that under PMGSY-III, the tenders for all sanctioned 155 projects covering a length of 1272.43 km at Rs 1357.87 crore had been floated.
The meeting was informed that ‘Road to Every Village’ as per the 2001 census was going to be a reality soon.
Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department Vivek Bhardwaj, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor Nitishwar Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar, Administrative Secretary, Mining Department Amit Sharma, chief engineers, senior officials from NHAI, NHIDCL, BRO, PWD, and other concerned departments and executing agencies attended the meeting in person and through virtual mode.