Srinagar, May 18: Chief Minster, Omar Abdullah Friday said his government was taking appropriate measures for upgrading the civic facilities in the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu. He said while focus is on the development of roads, construction of bridges, cleanliness, improvement of drainage system and management of traffic, equal attention is being paid for the “beautification of the cities and creation of lung places to make the environment palatable and provide recreational facilities to the citizens”.
 Addressing the gathering after inauguration of Joggers’ Park at Raj Bagh, Abdullah said traffic signal system has been made operational in Srinagar on pilot basis which will be installed gradually on all roads.
  “This system is showing positive impact in managing the flow of traffic and avoiding the disruption of traffic rules by the commuters”, he said and added that a major flyover from Jahangir Chowk to Natipora is coming up at a cost of Rs. 256 crores with ADB funding which will further streamline the flow traffic in the city.
 Omar Abdullah, as per an official handout said, utility shifting for launching the construction of the flyover and rehabilitation of the affected traders is on full swing. “We expect the ground breaking for the project by July end this year”, he said adding that about a dozen of new bridges are also being constructed in Srinagar at a cost of about Rs. 100 crores to decongest the traffic system and provide better and easy communication facilities to the people.
 The Chief Minister said that the launch of water transport in the River Jehlum in Srinagar is yet another step to provide commuting facilities to the citizens. He said upgradation and widening of city roads is on full swing while the macadamization programme for Jammu and Srinagar cities will continue this year.
 Omar Abdullah said that development of parks and lung places in the two cities of Jammu and Srinagar is all the more important to provide recreational facilities to the citizens and the visitors visiting the twin capitals of the State. He said beautification and conservation of heritage sites in the two cities has also been focused and various measures are already in place to achieve this goal.
 Minister for Tourism, Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister for Floriculture, Sham Lal Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism, Nasir Aslam Wani and Minister of State for R&B, Javid Ahmad Dar also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the measures the coalition government has taken for improvement and upgradation of civic facilities in Jammu and Srinagar cities. MLC Dharamvir Singh Obaroi was present on the occasion.
 The Joggers’ Park at Rajbagh has been developed at a cost of Rs. 2.54 crore over an area of 2.50 hectares.
 The park developed in two different contours, is with multi-recreational facilities particularly for children. It also contains musical fountain, joggers-path, garden lights for illumination, gate-plaza, etc. Installation of children’s play equipments and sprinkler irrigation system is being added to the park this year.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 18 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 18 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:00 IST