news details |
|
|
| Ahead of 'Darbar', Srinagar roads get facelift | | Practice mere wastage of money, say people | |
Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, May 2: With the Darbar move and other move offices reopening on May 9 here, the authorities are busy giving a 'fresh look to the summer capital. However the general public terms the practice as mere wastage of the money.
The administration is busy cleaning foot paths, road dividers and fencing for the past one week in the city, whereas majority roads are in dilapidated condition. Interestingly, the authorities had launched the drive to clean the footpaths and roads on the routes often used by the VIPs to reach Civil Secretariat.
The Srinagar-airport road is also getting face lift. Renovation and other repair works had also been completed in government and private accommodations, where the darbar move offices will stay for next six months.
On Monday many painters were seen painting some major roads leading to the Civil Secretariat including the Airport road and Residency Road.
Such a practice is an annual scene when the darbar shifts to Srinagar and the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department starts the "facelift".
"This is a part of our annual repairing and maintenance program. We are repairing and painting the roads afresh ahead of the opening of the darbar here," Chief Engineer R&B said.
With this, he said, the department starts the fresh works of the New Year.
However, the practice has drawn flak from the general public terming it as 'a mere wastage of the money paid by the tax-payers.
"This is public money and must be utilized properly," many said. Several shopkeepers in the city centre alleged that R&B uses sub-standard paint that gets washed away in a few days.
"Every six months the department paints the roads and footpaths afresh. But the paint hardly lasts for a month," Tufail Ahmad, a shopkeeper argued.
"The government is just presenting a rosy picture of a particular area while the rest of the city lacks proper roads.
Darbar Move in J&K is a 138-year-old tradition started by Dogra rajas. But the practice continued after 1947.
Dr Farooq Abdullah had to face stiff resistance from Jammu lawyers when he tried to abandon the practice in the '80s. Finally he gave up the idea.
The practice of Durbar Move was started in 1872 by the then ruler of J&K, Maharaja Gulab Singh. In May, Darbar opens in Srinagar and closes on October 31 to open in Jammu on November 10.
The state government annually spends Rs 10 crore for moving the offices, records and employees to Jammu in November and then back to Srinagar in May.
More than 40 offices and their sub-departments move in full after functioning for six winter months in Jammu while 45 departments move in camp. The latter carry 33 per cent of their staff strength.
All the move offices, apart from the manpower and other office paraphernalia, shift truck-loads of official records every six months. Special arrangements are made for the transportation of the records in the state-owned State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses and trucks which are requisitioned by respective departments.
For around 7000 move employees-including secretariat employees, police, judiciary and corporations-the TA alone runs to the tune of Rs 3.5 crore. Around 3000-3500 employees also avail facility of government accommodation.
Meanwhile security has been beefed-up at all the important places in the city and the frisking of pedestrians has been intensified to ensure an incident-free reopening of the secretariat in the summer capital.
Divisional administration also made arrangements on the eve of the Durbar Move. Top brass of police and civil administration had conducted meetings to finalize the arrangements. The Divisional Commissioner directed the Traffic authorities to ensure smooth movement of vehicular traffic in the Srinagar city so that the people do not face any difficulty in reaching their respective destinations and that too on time.
Additional police and paramilitary forces personnel have been deployed in Srinagar city to prevent any eventuality. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
