The Prime Minister’s commitment to the development of Jammu and Kashmir is turning into reality and work regarding the same is in full swing, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday in Srinagar.
“The Prime Minister’s development initiatives in J&K have created an emotional bond between the people and the country. Central schemes directly benefit the people and I am glad that work is going on at the ground level,” Mr. Puri said.
He said people were investing in the economic development in the Union Territory of J&K because of the Central government’s farsighted decision to remove the bottleneck of Article 370 and 35A.
“A new dawn of development is now set in the Union Territory of J&K after the abrogation of Article 370 that could be judged from the fact that 25 new national highway projects have been sanctioned to be built at an estimated cost of ₹11,721 crores, 168 MoUs have been signed amounting to ₹13,600 crores, seven new medical colleges have been sanctioned with medical seats increasing from 500 to 955, world’s highest railway bridge constructed in J&K, Vande Bharat Express is in operation from Jammu to Delhi and tourist footfall increased to more than one lakh,” he said.
He said application of modern technology to solid waste management was the need of the hour and Srinagar will be among the cities where such strategies will be adopted on a priority basis. “There is a need to process the waste as per modern standards to avoid dumping it at one location, which is hazardous to the ecosystem,” he added.
