J&K to seek Rs 3,100 crore foreign funds

The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to seek foreign funding for two integrated sewerage and drainage projects.

The state government has formulated two projects for Srinagar and Jammu involving a Rs 3,100 crore investment.

The project for greater Srinagar city would cost Rs 1,700 crore and for greater Jammu Rs 1,400 crore, said Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed after a high-level meeting here.

After getting technical clearance from the central government, these projects would be submitted to international financial institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for funding, Sayeed said.

"We need foreign funding for their (projects) implementation," the chief minister said.

Sayeed said for the expeditious completion of such capital-intensive projects, international financial agencies should be approached.

He also issued instructions for raising institutional resources for the Rs 100 crore multi-facility commercial complex, being constructed at the old state road transport corporation yard in Srinagar.

Sayeed said this should come up as another landmark to generate larger economic activity and employment.

The state government has already sought $300 million (Rs 150 crore) funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for three major road projects.

Work on these projects envisaging construction of hi-tech four-lane roads from Srinagar to the famous tourist resorts of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Yousmarg would be taken up this year, Sayeed said in Srinagar yesterday.

To reduce traffic pressure on roads, an express highway from Baramulla to Pathankote is being constructed.

Similar road projects in Jammu too would be executed, the chief minister said.

The Indira Gandhi Road in Srinagar would soon be upgraded to international standards, he said.A comprehensive traffic management strategy was also needed, he added.

Sayeed said coordination between traffic authorities, enforcement department and transporters was also required.

He stressed the need for constitution of a traffic regulatory authority at divisional levels to monitor the working and enforcement of traffic rules.

He asked officials to complete work on widening and upgradation of the Srinagar by-pass road stretch to pave way for the Kashmir-Kanyakumari superhighway express corridor.

Referring to a Rs 7 crore sewerage and drainage project for Anantnag, the chief minister said new drinking and irrigation water supply schemes should be formulated, wherever permissible under the Indus Water Treaty.

He asked officials to monitor such projects for their early completion. The chief minister also asked for modernisation and desilting of canals to provide sufficient water to farmers for irrigation.

Meanwhile, the central government has approved a Rs 2.27 crore scheme for modernisation of electricity supply system for twin districts of Srinagar and Budgam.

The state government has also submitted a Rs 2.66 crore proposal for the Baramulla and Kupwara districts.

Power Minister Mohammed Sharif Niaz said the government had accorded priority to increase power generation and 12 mini-hydroelectricity projects were likely to be taken up soon. These projects would help in meeting power shortage and also provide jobs, he said.

To streamline the state forest corporation's activities to raise turnover and revenue base, the state government has decided to set up a high-powered committee. The five-member panel would be headed by Ajit Kumar, principal secretary (forests).

The corporation should not be considered as an agency only for extraction and sale of timber but its functioning requires drastic change to generate more economic activity and revenue, he said.

He said the marking of trees and extraction of timber should be done in a manner so that timber was available at the depots round the year.

The government had given priority to meet local demand for timber than to auction it in the open market on much higher rates.