Kangan, Oct 16: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Friday said that construction of good bridges plays an important role in bridging the gaps on road to economic welfare, adding that upgraded road communication has assumed significant importance in socio-economic betterment of an area and the people.
Inaugurating a steel bridge on Kulan-Rezan road at Rezan, about 70 kms from Srinagar, on Srinagar-Ladakh Highway, the Chief Minister said improvement of roads and construction of bridges to link up unconnected and far-off rural areas was receiving priority attention of his government.
He said a massive roads and bridges development programme has already been kick-started in the state with focus on providing better road facilities in villages and backward areas. Omar said that uplift of rural areas and upgrading basic amenities has been flagged as an important concern and efforts were on to achieve the development goals on this front.
He asked the R&B and other executive agencies engaged in the development of roads and bridges in the state to ensure timely completion of all schemes so that people get benefits in the targeted timeframe.
Minister for Forests Mian Altaf Ahmad, Minister for Tourism Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister of State for Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Engineer R&B Kashmir Nazir Ahmad were present on the occasion.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated Rs.1.26 crore Trauma Centre at Gund. He inspected various units and wards of the hospital and took stock of the equipment installed in the hospital. The hospital has been constructed by the Police Development Corporation within a period of 10 months.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister also interacted with people who had gathered there. They requested the Chief Minister for relief to the farmers whose crops were damaged due to draught like conditions this year.
Omar assured them that a special girdawari was being prepared to assess the damages caused to the crops so that same is projected to Government of India besides providing relief under Calamity Relief Fund.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 IST