Srinagar: After raising objections, the Army has given no-objection certificate (NOC) to revised Master Plan for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Awantipora in south Kashmir following which the work on the prestigious project is back on track.
As per the official document accessed by Greater Kashmir, the government agencies have shared a revised Master Plan of AIIMS Kashmir with Victor Force/other officers “ which had been agreed in principle.”
“NOC has been received from Victor force and Srinagar Metropolitan Development Authority,” reads an official document adding that work is going on smoothly after removing the bottlenecks in the revised Master Plan.
According to an official document, the work on the boundary wall is almost completed except in some portions which shall be taken up with main work. 7 per cent work on the main building was completed.
The work on the project was halted on May 10, 2021 for want of NOC from the Army.
Earlier, a committee constituted by the Government of India had directed the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to revise the Master Plan of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) at Awantipora in south Kashmir in line with “security instructions issued by the Ministry of Defence”.
A committee was constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to resolve the issues which were raised by Victor Force.
“Committee decided that CPWD should revise the Master Plan in line with the security instructions issued by the Ministry of Defence,” the official document reads.
Further as per the document, remaining 34 acres of land to be handed over within one month. The Government of India has sanctioned Rs 1828 crore for the project, of which 234.51 crore have been released so far. The institute to be established at Awantipora is part of the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) which was announced on 7 November 2015.
The central government has appointed CPWD as an executing agency for the project.
Although issues like land acquisition, rehabilitation and compensation of the people affected by the project have been belatedly resolved, the construction agency is yet to finish the fencing of the project site.
The AIIMS, according to official information, is supposed to have a 750-bed hospital and would cater to around 1500 OPD cases on a daily basis.
The project besides providing the super-specialty healthcare would also help Kashmir in human resource development in medical science.