Srinagar, Oct 25: A day after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah pitched for resumption of river navigation to overcome traffic mess on roads, the Minister for Rural Development Panchayati Raj and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Sagar Tuesday directed the administration to beautify Jhelum.

SAGAR ON RIVER
 An official handout said: “While asking the officers of the Irrigation and Flood Control to carry out the beautification along the banks of Jhelum from Fathekadal onwards, the Minister also asked them to ensure that the necessary repair work of the Ghats.”
  “The beautification and renovation should be taken in such a manner that it is inconsonance with the local architecture and taste,” Sagar said.
 The Minister also said that the government was actively considering the proposal of introducing water transport to the Srinagar City, so that the “traffic congestion can be checked by providing an effective transportation facility to the people living in the City”.

OTHER ISSUES
 Sagar said that it would “also go a long way in promoting tourism besides giving the much needed alternative to the people.”
 Senior officers of Administration, Irrigation and Flood Control, R&B and other allied departments were accompanying the Minister during his tour of Shahr-e-Khaas.
 The Minister who is  also MLA Khanyar inspected the status of work being undertaken on the prestigious KZP road project and directed the officers to ensure that the shopkeepers getting dislocated should be given adequate compensation and rehabilitated properly as has been done with those of Khawaja Bazar and Nowhatta.
 Sagar also appealed the people to understand the “importance of peace for carrying out various developmental works”.
  “People should also give a befitting reply to the forces that are propagating divisive politics as they are the real enemies of peace and believe in dividing on the basis of region and religion”, he added.

SPOKESMAN INSISTS
 The official spokesman said: “It is pertinent to mention that the government has already formulated a comprehensive plan for the beautification of the old City on heritage pattern by which the Srinagar City which is one of the oldest living cities of the world can be restored to its pristine glory and brought on the tourist circuit of the state.”

BOTTOMLINE
 Ironically even as the City roads witness frequent traffic jams, the National Conference led government which bagged all the eight Assembly constituency seats in the last elections has failed to augment the “staff starved” traffic police as mere 250 men-in-blue man the City traffic. And, given their “meagre presence” they mostly concentrate on civil lines frequented by the VIPs, while most other roads particularly the Shahr-e-Khaas are void of any traffic policing making the people to fend for themselves.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST