Jammu, Sep 2: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Friday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 14 projects of Jammu Smart City worth Rs 113 crore.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that dedicating the Smart City Projects to the people, the LG said that these projects would create a smart living by improving the quality of life, better public services, opportunities for local economic development, and easier accessibility to everyone.
Observing that the global framework of smart cities had undergone a paradigm shift in the last two to three years and eco-cities had been envisaged to make the urban infrastructure sustainable, he said that Jammu Smart City projects had ensured that maximum green space was provided to the citizens.
“We aim to transform Jammu as an eco-city for sustainable economic activities and to also nurture ecological assets. Six projects have been initiated to harness the benefit of rich ecology, enhance the well-being of citizens and resource efficiency by appropriate strategic approach,” the LG said.
He impressed upon multi-stakeholders contribution and people's participation to make J&K’s cities and towns resilient, competitive, and dynamic with strong social infrastructure to tackle the challenges of growing urbanisation.
The LG said that the concept of a Smart City without smart citizens was meaningless.
“From developing Smart City to maintaining its systems and infrastructure, the participation of every citizen at every level is vital. It is the responsibility of the community to preserve and protect the amenities,” he said.
The LG directed the officials to ensure the completion of the projects within a set time frame and called for adopting a realistic approach to make public services and urban infrastructure efficient with equal participation of all citizens, making cities smart with the use of technology, to facilitate rapid socio-economic development and better quality of life.
Highlighting the impact of the Smart City projects inaugurated on Friday, the LG said that the Facade Lighting of Mubarak Mandi, the priceless heritage of the Dogra dynasty, would add aesthetics to the heritage building, and boost the local economy by attracting more tourist influx.
“The 10 new digital panels and advertisement panels at 110 locations apart from generating revenue for Jammu Municipal Corporation will also provide employment opportunities to locals,” he said.
The LG said that the project of street development from Mubarak Mandi to Raghunath Bazaar would provide a new experience of smart urban mobility to the citizens while preserving the cultural richness of the old market and locality of about five and a half kilometer road and its adjoining city.
He expressed hope that once the project was completed in June 2023, Raghunath Bazaar, Jain Bazaar, Kanak Mandi, and Moti Bazaar would emerge as a smart commercial hub and provide new opportunities for economic growth to the existing businesses.
The LG said another street development project from Canal Road to Talab Tillo Chowk costing Rs 20 crore had been planned to be completed with an integrated approach, keeping in mind the urban design process, urban management, mobility, and local economic development.
Speaking on the achievements of the revenue department, the LG said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, major revenue reforms were introduced by the government in the last two years.
“Initiatives like ‘Aapki Zameen Aapki Nigrani’ and institutionalisation of 1553 Patwarkhanas have empowered the common citizens. Through digitisation and land passbooks, land disputes will be substantially reduced and it will be easier to check fraudulent transactions,” he said. “The land passbooks that have been distributed today are valid documents and to ensure its security, a unique number and QR code have been arranged in the passbook given to the land owners.”
The LG said that the work of digitisation of land records was going on in all 20 districts and out of 6912 villages, the process of digitisation had been completed in 3049 villages which is land records of about 44.11 percent of villages had been digitised.
Referring to the several issues projected by various quarters, he directed the officials to examine the issue of the dilapidated condition of Bahu Fort road leading to Bawe Wali Mata Temple and take necessary action at the earliest so that the local people and devotees do not face difficulties.
The LG instructed for the execution of allied work of entry gate and approach road of Bawe Wali Mata and approach road of Har Ki Pauri at a rapid pace.
He took note of the slow and unorganised progress of various Smart City works going on in the Gandhi Nagar area and directed the concerned officials to ensure that works were not executed in a piecemeal manner by any stretch.
The LG called upon engineers and project managers to draw project strategies that were simple, realistic, and utilitarian.
“Our basic intent about the Smart City projects should be to make public services and urban infrastructure efficient,” he said.
The LG directed all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to complete the modalities for the disbursement of the next installment under PM Kisan to all the beneficiaries of J&K.
The projects inaugurated by the LG include façade lighting Illumination of Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex at Rs 3.32 crore, digital ad panels at multiple locations across Jammu City costing Rs 3.48 crore, and static ad panels at multiple locations across Jammu City worth Rs 4.95 crore.
Projects for which foundation stones were laid on Friday included complete street development from Mubarak Mandi to Raghunath Bazaar via Pucca Danga and Moti Bazar (5.50 km-long heritage trail) at Rs 16.18 crore, complete street development canal road Talab Tillo costing Rs 20.21 crore, the blue-green project for Ranbir Canal from BSF Paloura to Pawan Ice Cream (Phase I and II) worth Rs 20.17 crore, and the blue-green project for Tawi Canal Zone 1 from Gorkha Nagar to Railway Station at Rs 17.83 crore.
The LG also laid the foundation for the development of a park and renovation of the women's vocational centre at Prem Nagar costing Rs 1.11 crore, the development of an indoor gym and park at Channi Himmat worth Rs 3.86 crore, library-cum-cafeteria at Mubarak Mandi at 3.28 crore, façade lighting of Sidhra Bridge costing Rs 3.35 crore, vertical garden Phase-II at Rs 1.09 crore, landscaping and development of green spaces in Jammu costing Rs 6.62 crore and Rs 7.50 crore worth archives repository project at Kala Kendra.
Speaking on the occasion, Mayor JMC Chander Mohan Gupta said that several developmental works under the Smart City project were being implemented at a rapid pace.
“The unprecedented growth of J&K under the LG-led administration is being discussed across the nation,” he said.
Member Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma congratulated the people of Jammu on the occasion.
He lauded the J&K government for accelerating the development process.
“Those projects which were deliberately delayed for decades are now seeing the light of the day,” Sharma said.
Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta said that the occasion represents the changing scenario of transforming J&K.
He urged the people to link their Aadhaar and mobile numbers with their land records for obtaining maximum benefits of transparent governance.
Principal Secretary to the Government, Housing and Urban Development Department Dheeraj Gupta in his welcome address highlighted the key features of the inaugurated projects and the one for which foundation stones were laid on the occasion.
“We will see a transformed and aesthetically-appealing developed Jammu City in the coming time,” he said.
Commissioner Secretary to Government Revenue Department Vijay Bidhuri said that around 100 Land Pass Books were handed over to the people on Friday.
“It is a legal document admissible in the court of law having a QR code,” he said and talked about the progress being made under the ‘Aapki Zameen Aapki Nigrani’ campaign.
CEO JSCL and Commissioner JMC Rahul Yadav presented a brief description of the projects and delivered a vote of thanks
